Deadly Vengeance
by cyberdemon
Summary: Complete. Sequel to Shattered Reality. something horrible has happened. someone has been taken away from them. Something bad then happens after that that no one ever expected.
1. death

Van just laid there. Nothing could seem to want him to do anything at that moment. He was a motionless corpse by the way that he was acting. Nothing seemed to get to him. His mouth moved but no words seemed to come out of them. Flashes of blood came through his mind. A bone-chilling scream of pain was heard in his mind. His eyes were blank, almost lifeless as if his soul was completely sucked out of his body. Nobody could seem to turn him back to his old self. One word was muttered out of his mouth, "Fiona."  
  
***Flashback***  
  
"Van, isn't this the escort unit that was used to send Zack away?" asked Fiona as the two of them walked through the wreckage of the many reddlers.  
  
"Yes it is," said Van as he ran up to one of them. He looked into the cockpit and saw the very bloody pilot and the torn up ropes in the back of the cockpit. 'Oh no,' thought Van as he quickly rushed out of it. "Let's get out of here," said Van as he grabbed Fiona hand to get her away from the area as fast as they could.  
  
The sudden clicking of a gun caught their ears, Van ran even faster after that but then a gunshot was heard.  
  
Van then felt a searing pain in the back of his leg as he fell face first into the ground. "Run Fiona," said Van as he clutched his leg in pain. He looked to see that Fiona was standing there looking at him with a worried expression. "I said run!" yelled Van since she was refusing to move.  
  
Van looked over and saw Zack standing on top of one of the shot down reddlers with a gun in his hands. He didn't seem to be doing anything else at that moment. A moment later though he hopped off of the reddler and started to walk towards the two of them.  
  
"Please Fiona. Please get out of here," said Van in a pleading voice as he looked up at the horrified looking Fiona.  
  
"I can't just leave you here," said Fiona as she rushed up to Van. She knelt down and tried to pick him up but she was not strong enough to do it. "I can't leave you," repeated Fiona.  
  
"You have to. I can't let anything happen to you. You mean the world to me and I will not let him harm you," said Van cringing at the pain as he still held his shot leg. "So please go before he reaches us," said Van with the pleading voice.  
  
"What if he kills you?" asked Fiona with the worry still in her eyes. "Just like you can't bear to see anything happen to you," said Fiona as she was on the verge of tears at that very moment.  
  
"I don't care what happens to me. You are the one that has to get out of here before he comes and shoots you too," said Van with passion in his voice. "Besides. I am stuck here with my leg. If you don't go then who will look after Kristi?" asked Van looking at Fiona with love in his eyes.  
  
Fiona very reluctantly stood up. She didn't want to, but she knew that Van was right. She had to look after their daughter. It was too late though as she felt something hard hit the back of her head sending her flying to the ground unconscious. She was now a few feet away from Van.  
  
Van didn't have enough strength at that moment to be able to crawl over to her to make sure that she was alright.  
  
Van then heard the cruel laughter of Zack. "It is just so much fun playing with the life of you and your friends Flyheight," said Zack with smirk on his face by just looking at the squirming Van.  
  
"Kill me if you would like but leave Fiona alone," growled Van looking at the unconscious Fiona. He begged to god that she was ok at that moment.  
  
Zack then brought a leg up and brought it down on Van's stomach right where he had been stabbed only a week before. Van screamed out in pain as Zack brought his foot up and did it again earning another scream from Van.  
  
"The sound of screaming is so wonderful at times. What I enjoy even more is watching you suffer Flyheight," said Zack with a smirk crossing his face. Zack then heard the sounds of zoids in the distance. "You won't die, but you will suffer," said Zack raising his gun. He then shot Van's one good leg earning an even louder scream of pain.  
  
"Just kill me already!" yelled Van as he clutched both of his shot leg. The pain was more then anything he had ever felt before. Even more so then getting stabbed.  
  
"Can't do that just yet. Your time will come though. Like I said, all I want to do is watch you suffer," said Zack raising the gun again. This time it wasn't pointed at Van. Instead it was pointed at the unconscious Fiona.  
  
"No! Please don't kill Fiona," begged Van but it was too late. The gun was fired and it made the unconscious Fiona jump due to the force on her unconscious body as it hit her chest.  
  
Zack gave off one final smirk before he suddenly ran off in another direction. "So long Flyheight, and I hope you suffer more then anything," yelled Zack behind him with a smirk on his face.  
  
Van mustered up the last of his strength and crawled towards Fiona. "Fiona, Fiona," said Van shaking Fiona slightly. He didn't get a response from her. he shook her again but once again he was unable to get a response. "Fiona, wake up," said Van with a small tear in his eye. He then looked at his hands that were soaked with Fiona's blood. "Fiona, Fiona. No, this cannot be happening. You can't be dead," said a hysterical Van.  
  
The sound of zoids approaching caught Van ear. He turned his tear stricken face to see the dibison and the lightning saix running as fast as they could towards Van and Fiona.  
  
"Van," came a weak gurgling voice. Van might not have been able to hear it if he hadn't been so close at that moment.  
  
Van turned to see Fiona with her eyes slightly opened. "Fiona, you are alright," said Van with a worried look on his face. He took a hold of he now cold hands.  
  
"No Van. I'm not. ok. I'm. I'm sorry," said a weak Fiona as she coughed up a little bit of blood.  
  
"No need to say that. You are going to be just fine. You are going to be fine and we are going to get married just like we planned on doing," said Van not really wanting to face the truth of the situation.  
  
"I would love that," said Fiona taking in hard gasps of air, "But we both know that that won't happen. I am sorry," said Fiona in a weak voice. A moment later her grip on Van's hand loosened and then it fell limp in his hands.  
  
"Fiona, Fiona," yelled Van trying to get her to respond. "Fiona!" screamed Van though he knew that it would do him no good. He knew that she was gone.  
  
The amount of blood that Van had been losing through the bullet wounds now got to him and he felt very weak from it. Right before he passed out he was able to muttered something. He said, "You promised that you wouldn't leave me." then he passed out.  
  
The lightning saix and the dibison arrived only a few seconds after that had happened. Thomas and Irvine immediately jumped out of their zoids as soon as they saw their two friends laying on the ground without moving.  
  
"Van, Fiona!" yelled Irvine rushing up to the two of them. He first checked Van to see if he was alright. He was glad to see that there was a small pulse in Van. He turned to check Fiona but Thomas beat him to it.  
  
The look on Thomas's face was not something that Irvine really wanted to see. It was a look of shock. A look of pain. It only took that one look to tell Irvine all that he needed to know. Fiona was dead.  
  
"No. It can't be true. Fiona can't be dead," muttered a shocked Irvine as he looked at the still body.  
  
"It is. She has no pulse," said Thomas standing up with a horrified look on his face. He then walked over to his dibison and leaned over it holding his hand to his mouth. At the moment all he felt like doing was throwing up.  
  
"You have to be wrong," said Irvine rushing over to Fiona and taking her wrist into his arms. He didn't get any pulse so he tried the other one but it was still was no use. He just couldn't find one. Irvine refused to believe it. He knew it was true though. he had lost his friend. No, more like his sister. The second one that he had lost two.  
  
"How could this have happened?" asked Thomas leaning over with a teary eyed look on his face. "I can't believe that he killed Fiona," said Thomas with a weak look on his face.  
  
Irvine then stood up. "We. we have to get them back to the base," said Irvine but Thomas knew that all that was happening was tearing him up on the inside. it was doing the exact same thing to him too.  
  
"Right," was all that Thomas could say because he felt that if he was to open his mouth anymore then he would end up throwing up just like he had been wanting to do for the past few minutes.  
  
***End Flashback***  
  
"Look at him. It is like he has lost his will to live," said Irvine looking at their friend in the sad state that he was in. "No matter what we do, there seems to be no way of getting him to snap out of this depressing state," said Irvine with a sad look in his eyes.  
  
"Can you really blame him? He has lost the one person that means most to him. The two of them were going to get married and then this happened to them. No one seems to want to leave them alone and let them live their lives in peace," said Moonbay with a sad voice.  
  
"He is not the only one that is being effected by this. He lost a love. I lost a sister," said Irvine in a hurt voice. He wanted to get revenge for what had happened. 'I will have revenge,' thought Irvine with a scowl on his face.  
  
"I have lost my best friend as well. Van and Fiona were much closer though then either of us could ever hope to be with the two of them. They loved each other with all of their hearts, and yet that guy continued to toy with it as if it means nothing to him. He probably doesn't either," said Moonbay with the sad look on her face.  
  
"What are we going to do now that Fiona isn't around? She was basically the one person that brought us all together," said Irvine feeling tears coming along. "I just can't think of what it will be like without her around," said Irvine.  
  
"Just think about how Van and Kristi feel. Van lost his fiancée and the love of his life. Kristi lost her mother as well. Neither of them are taking it all too well," said Moonbay feeling a fresh wave of tears coming to her eyes just thinking about her lost friend.  
  
"No one is ever going to be able to get over this. Our friend is gone. She is gone and we are never going to be able to see or hear from her again," said Irvine as he almost collapsed but Moonbay was there to help catch him. It didn't help though as she fell into the exact same state that Irvine was in.  
  
Meanwhile Van just continued to stare up at the ceiling of the room in the same state that he had been in since he woke up after that incident. He just continued to mutter, "Fiona, Fiona," and so on. It just tore him up to know that he had failed her. He not only failed Fiona but also Kristi, and their friends. He remained the living corpse just staring at the ceiling. 


	2. mourning

"How long do you think he is going to stay like that?" asked Thomas quietly from the doorway as he watched Van in the same state that he had been in for the past few days.  
  
"I would say until someone can find out a way to return the dead back to life. Without Fiona, he just doesn't seem to have any strength left to let him live any longer," said Ashley sadly as she look into the room as well.  
  
"I feel really bad for him. He has worked harder then any of us for peace. So that when the time came and he was finally able to settle down, he would be able to live peacefully with Fiona and Kristi. All that has happened seemed to shatter that one dream of his that he has wanted more than anything else," said Thomas with a small frown on his face.  
  
"Unfortunately the dead can't be brought back to life. If we could, we would. However that isn't the case. I would do anything to help him because he helped me by allowing me to regain control over my life. Yet there is nothing I can do. I feel so helpless right now," said Ashley with a frown on her face.  
  
"Sooner or later Van will just have to find a way to get over this. Somehow though, I know that that will be impossible for him. Even if he were ever to smile again, it would have no meaning because we will all know that it is a fake smile. Fiona could always find a way to make him smile even in the darkest times. It is not what she does that makes him smile; it is just her being around him that does it. I used to be the exact same way," said Thomas with a sad look on his face.  
  
"Do you know when the funeral is going to be?" asked Ashley quietly because she didn't want to really bring the subject up. "I would like to say goodbye to her. Thank her for all that she has done for me. I would have done it while she was alive if I had a chance, but all this happened before I could recover from what had happened to me," said Ashley with a frown.  
  
"Fiona would probably like that. The funeral is going to be in two days. However, if Van remains in the state that he is in then he will most likely miss it. I somehow don't think he is going to come anyways. He will probably be stubborn and refuse to believe that she is actually gone. For now we should just leave him alone. He just won't listen to anything that we say. He needs to somehow deal with his guilt by himself. He bares pains that some of us can't even comprehend. Not only physically but mentally. His physical wounds have healed. However he blames himself for allowing this to happen to her. We all know that he would have prevented it if he could, but in the condition that he was in at the time that we arrived it is no wonder that we couldn't do anything. Damn it! We could have helped if we had only gotten there a little sooner," growled Thomas as he slammed his fist against the wall.  
  
"Don't start to blame yourself for this happening. All of us have part in it but none of us are the ones responsible for this happening. Van needs to understand this in order for him to begin to recover," said Ashley putting a comforting hand on Thomas's shoulder.  
  
"I know, but how are we going to be able to convince him of this fact. He refuses to listen. Do you have any ways that we might be able to tell him this and actually have him listen?" asked Thomas.  
  
"That is an easy answer to come up with. All we have to do is leave him alone. In time he may be able to come to terms with it, but we need to let him do it on his own for now. When he is finally ready to talk to us about it, then that is when we can try," said Ashley as if it was a fact.  
  
"When will he ever be able to actually turn to us in order for us to be able to help him through this. At this rate he will die from the grief of all that has been going on," said Thomas in a soft voice.  
  
"He won't. He knows that he can't. He has a daughter that he knows he has to take care of. He won't leave her alone in the world without either of her parents. I am sure that he will makes sure to stay alive for just her," said Ashley with a small smile despite the situation.  
  
"How is Kristi doing about this anyways?" asked Thomas realizing that he hadn't seen her around for a while. "I bet that she is suffering over this as much as Van," said Thomas with a frown.  
  
"She is young. She doesn't completely understand all that is going on. She does know what something bad has happened to her mother. You know that she would be sad with knowing just that. For a while Fiona was all that Kristi had. She only had her mother since Fiona had run away from Van before she was even born. So you would know that she cared for her mother more than anything," said Ashley. "The sooner that Van can get over this the more attention he can give her to help her to get over it as well," Ashley continued sadly.  
  
"You are right. Let's just give him a little time to himself. That is the only way that he will ever get over this. When he is ready he will come to us but that won't happen anytime soon," said Thomas with a frown.  
  
*****  
  
Van found himself floating in pure darkness. He couldn't move, he couldn't see. It was like his body refused to obey any of his commands. He had been like this ever since that day.  
  
"Oh Van," came the voice of Fiona. Suddenly an image appeared in front of Van. Fiona seemed to stand there without a scratch on her. she was just as beautiful as Van could remember her.  
  
"Fiona! You're alive?" said Van. He was finally being able to move his body. He reached out for her hoping to grab a hold of her before she disappeared from his life again. He couldn't seem to be able to touch her though.  
  
"No Van. I am not. You saw all that had happened. You know that I am dead just as much as I know that fact. I am sorry for doing this to you and our daughter. However, I hate you for how you have been acting about it. How are you going to get revenge for me if you are just laying around like that? To everyone else, you are as good as dead," said Fiona with a scowl on her face.  
  
"Is that why you are here for, to yell at me?" asked Van with a small frown on his face as he looked at the area where there should have been a floor. He desperately wished that it was the real Fiona that he was talking to and not just his dreams.  
  
"No. I have come to warn you. Something is about to happen that you may not be prepared for. When it happens I want to you stay near our daughter and protect her with everything you've got. Please Van. I am begging you to do this as my final wish. You have to get up and stop blaming yourself though. if you could have you would have but in your state it was impossible for you to do anything. So please stop blaming yourself. You are just making things far worse. Once again I am sorry for leaving you," said Fiona as she slowly started to fade away.  
  
"Fiona!" yelled Van running up to her but by the time that he managed to get there it was already too late because she had already vanished. "I'm sorry too," said Van quietly as a tear fell down his face.  
  
*****  
  
Van shot up in the bed that he had been laying in. He felt lousy at that moment. It was probably because of how hungry he felt. After all. He hadn't eaten in a couple of days. "What did Fiona mean by that?" Van asked himself as he laid his head in his hands.  
  
"So you finally decided to walk up huh?" came Irvine's voice from the doorway into the room. Irvine walked a little closer but Van just remained silent. "Fiona's funeral is today. Are you going to be coming?" asked Irvine with a sympathetic expression on his face.  
  
"I don't know," was the only thought that was able to come to Van's mind. "I really need some time to clear my head. I was supposed to protect her and I failed. How am I supposed to face her while that is on my mind?" asked Van in a quiet voice.  
  
"Fiona probably doesn't think that you failed her. She knows that you did your best when the time came. You should be thinking that also. What do you think that Fiona would be saying if she saw you in this condition?" asked Irvine.  
  
Van suddenly remembered his dream that he had just had. Yet he remained silent. He didn't want to talk about it at that moment. It would only bring him more pain over time.  
  
"Fine. You don't have to come. It would be respectful of Fiona for you to come. You should just think that over for a little while," said Irvine trying to sound at least a little comforting while he was speaking. He then walked out of the room without another word.  
  
Van didn't even stand up after Irvine had left. He didn't want to admit it but he knew that Irvine was right in a couple of ways. "What am I going to do now?" asked Van in a sad voice as he laid his head in his hands again. "Should I go with them, or stay here and sort out my thoughts?" Van asked himself as he remained seated on the bed.  
  
*****  
  
"So he didn't decide to come," said a disappointed Moonbay when she looked around the place but she wasn't able to find Van. 'I thought for sure that he would have come once he woke up. So why isn't he here?' Moonbay wondered to herself.  
  
She held Kristi's hand tightly. Irvine was to her other side and on the other side of Irvine were Thomas and Ashley. Everyone was confused as well by Van's lack of appearance. She was his fiancée and yet he refused to come.  
  
"Van has a lot on his mind. He will come when he is ready," said Irvine while putting a comforting hand on Moonbay's shoulder as they stood in front of Fiona's grave. Irvine could tell that at that moment Moonbay was barely holding back her tears. He really couldn't blame her either. They had both lost someone very close to them because of this. He hated to admit it but he actually felt like doing the exact same thing as Moonbay at that very moment.  
  
A few moments later the inevitable happened. Moonbay started to cry. "I can't believe that she is gone. Not too long ago she was with us alive and well," said Moonbay as she tightened her grip on the confused yet saddened Kristi.  
  
"That right. Just let it all out," said Irvine in a comforting voice as he pulled Moonbay into his arms and just allowed her to cry into his shirt until she was finished crying.  
  
Everyone remained silent after that if you didn't include the sounds of Moonbay's crying. Nobody wanted to speak either. The just stood there in silence as if expecting Fiona to just show up. None of their wishes came true though.  
  
*****  
  
Off in the shadows a figure stood watching it all with a sad look on his face. A few moments passed and he saw them all start to walk away from the grave sight. Very quietly he came out of the shadows when he was sure they were gone.  
  
"Hey there Fiona," said Van in a quiet voice as he placed some flowers on the grave. "Sorry I didn't come with the rest of them, but I felt that I needed to do this on my own," said Van as he felt tears start to come to his eyes. He didn't even try to hold them back though. "It is so hard being here without you Fiona. I don't want to be alone. Not again, I don't want to be alone again," said Van as he fell to his hands and knees and he let his tears fall.  
  
A tender hand was felt on his shoulder. Van turned his head to see his daughter. She was crying just like him. he pulled her into his arms. "Daddy, I want mommy," cried Kristi as Van put a tight embrace around her.  
  
Van didn't say anything as he let his daughter just cry. He looked up to see everyone there watching it with a sad faces on. He wanted to say something but nothing seemed to come out of his mouth.  
  
Moonbay took a step forward. "You are not alone Van. We will all be here to help you whenever you need it," said Moonbay in a soft voice. Everyone else agreed with her. "We are all here for you," repeated Moonbay as she embraced Van in a sisterly hug.  
  
After a while Van was finally able to calm down a little bit. "Come on. Let's head back. I think that all of us have had enough for one day," said Irvine with a sad tone in his voice as he turned to leave.  
  
Van didn't say more as he stood up and followed after Irvine and his friends. All this had been too much for him to take. 'This is just like my father. My mother died when Maria and I were young and he had to look after us by himself. Now I have to look after my child without the mother,' thought Van with a sad look on his face. 'Why did you have to leave me Fiona?' asked a quiet Van as he tried to hold back the next wave of tears that were threatening to fall.  
  
All was now quiet around the area. It had been a number of minutes since everyone had left the gravesite. A shadow approached the grave. The rain started to fall upon him as a smirk crossed his face. 


	3. it starts again

Van sat angrily in front of a computer as he watched the screen that was in front of him show some unimportant information. It was nothing that he needed. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't find the bastard that did so much pain to Fiona. It gad been several weeks since it all happened and he was still not having any luck finding the bastard. Van was going to make sure that he had found him and made sure that he was going to wring the life out of him for what he had done.  
  
Moonbay walked into the room with a strange look on her face. "Van. Something just came for you. I thought I might tell you that even though you didn't want to be disturbed," said Moonbay holding out a small envelope with Van's name neatly written in black ink upon it.  
  
Van quickly grabbed it from Moonbay with lightning fast speed. He opened it up and gasped at what he read. The shocked look quickly changed to anger as he dropped the note and immediately ran out of the room.  
  
Moonbay was slightly confused by Van's sudden dash out of the room. She cautiously picked the note up and read it. 'You're not getting off so easy Van. Your suffering has yet to even begin.' This small note shocked Moonbay and she also immediately knew who sent it. It was the same person that had shot and killed Fiona.  
  
"Oh my God," said Moonbay as she held a hand to her mouth from the shock that she was receiving. "This guy kills Fiona and says that Van suffering hasn't even begun. How can he even think something like that?" Moonbay asked herself as she dropped the note. "Please don't let Van go crazy again. I don't think that we will be able to survive another round of that," muttered Moonbay as she followed in the direction that Van had left in.  
  
*****  
  
"Damnit. That guy is harder to track than anyone else that I have met. Raven was on the run for years and he would be easier to track down than this bastard. I swear though that when I find him I am going to wring the life out of him. He is going to regret the day that he ever decided to cross me," growled Van as he walked down the streets of the strangely deserted town. Everyone was gone. It could also be because it is near midnight. He didn't even know why he was even up at that time of night. 'Oh yeah. I was looking for that guy so that I could kill him,' thought Van with a scowl on his face.  
  
It had been a few days since Van had gotten that letter from Zack and he was definitely not too happy about it. He knew that Zack was up to something and he was determined to find out what it was. Good thing for him the street were practically empty except for a few drunks that were still out. He wasn't even paying attention to where he was walking.  
  
Without looking where he was going at that moment. Van didn't see the person that was walking in his direction at that moment until he hit the person sending them both to the ground.  
  
Van quickly got up rubbing his rear end since he had landed on it. He looked in the direction of the other person and saw that whoever it was, was still laying on the ground. "Hey, are you ok?" asked Van walking towards the person.  
  
A small feminine groan came from the person. The figure got on their hands and knees rubbing their head. "Ouch," said the person in a very feminine voice indicating that it was a female.  
  
Overall there didn't seem to be any serious injuries as far as Van could tell but he figured he better make sure. "Hey. Are you alright?" Van asked again after the woman didn't respond to it the first time.  
  
The woman's head shot up to reveal to Van deep blue eyes and midnight black hair. At that moment that the woman saw Van a look of panic shot across her face. She quickly got off the ground and didn't say a word as she ran off down the street.  
  
Van watched as the woman left with utter confusion on his face. "All I did was try to make sure that she was alright and she freaked out and left. I wonder what that was about," said Van before turning around to continue walking. A thought suddenly came to his mind. 'That woman looked very familiar. I wonder if I met her before,' thought Van. Then with a shrug of his shoulders he just continued to walk. Still, there was a nagging thing in the back of his mind that told him that he had seen the person somewhere before.  
  
*****  
  
Zack leaned back in his chair with an ever-present smirk across his face. Almost everything was going as he had planned it. Fiona was just the beginning. He now had a way to make Van suffer so greatly that it made some of his older plans seemed so plain and ordinary compared to what he has in store.  
  
"Aw yes. I am sure that you wish to see your beloved Fiona again, but that is no longer possible after what I had just done. Your life is so much fun to toy with. I think that it is time for us to have a nice chat," said Zack as a smirk crossed his face. The door to the room suddenly opened and in walked the key to all of his plans. 'Oh yes. All is going perfectly,' thought Zack with a smirk.  
  
*****  
  
The sun came up over the horizon as Van sat upon the top of the hill and watched it with a sad look on his face. "The sunrise is so nice. I wish you could be here to watch it as well Fiona. I am sure that you would have loved it. You can't though. Zack made sure of that. I will get revenge for you though Fiona," said Van with a sad look on his face.  
  
Van suddenly heard the sound of footsteps from behind him. a voice then called out to him. "You are Van Flyheight, correct?" asked a very rough voice as a cloaked figure approached Van.  
  
"What's it to you?" asked Van as he turned to looked a the cloaked man. The only things that Van could see behind the very black cloak were a pair of icy blues eyes that were able to send shivers down Van's spine.  
  
The man stopped his approach and reached for something behind his back. Van immediately knew what was going to happen and grabbed his father's knife just in time to be able to stop another knife from killing him.  
  
"Zack sent you, didn't he?" asked Van with a glare of death in his eyes should the man say yes. Then again, maybe he could probably use it to his advantage as well. "Are you? Why are you here?" growled Van when the man didn't answer him.  
  
"Master Zack is very interested in you at this very moment. I am merely here to test you," said the man in a cold rough voice. Although Van could see it, the man was smirking behind the mask.  
  
"Wrong answer," said Van as he used as much strength as he could to push the other man's knife out of the man's hands. Van now had the man pinned to the ground with his father's knife at the man's throat.  
  
The man quivered under Van because of the threat of death that was in Van's eyes at that very moment. Zack had told him to watch out because of Van's strength but he didn't bother to listen hard enough.  
  
"Now, you are going to be a good boy and take me to Zack. Am I correct?" asked Van in a dangerous voice as he pushed the knife a little closer but not close enough to cut into the mans neck.  
  
The man nodded his head slightly so that he didn't end up cutting his own throat in the process. For an assassin, van seemed to scare him greatly with how much determination that he showed.  
  
"Good. You had better not pull any funny business, or I might have to rethink about what your punishment will be," said Van knowing that a good threat might keep the man in line.  
  
Van pulled the man to his feet and while making sure that the man didn't try to run away he pushed the man in the direction that the man said that he needed to go. 'Finally I will be able to get revenge,' thought Van with a slight smirk as he followed the man. 'Something isn't right. For an assassin, he didn't put up much of a fight. It is almost as if he wanted me to do this,' thought Van while keeping a cautious eye on the man. He shrugged it off though and continued to follow the man.  
  
*****  
  
"Hey Irvine. Have you seen Van? I have been looking all day and I have yet to find him," said Moonbay after she ran around the base about seven times looking for Van. Yet she never found him.  
  
"Yeah. He left a yesterday saying that he needed to get away for a while. He said that he would be back in a few days after he could clear his head a little bit of all of his problem," said Irvine turning to look at Moonbay.  
  
"I guess I really can't blame him. He has gone through more pains in these past few years than anyone else I know. He just can't seem to catch any sort of breaks. I wish we could do something but for now there isn't really anything," said Moonbay with a slight frown on her face.  
  
"I know that. Why did things have to end up like this? I just don't get it. That guy has not only ruined Van's life but their daughter as well. He has also ruined our lives with all that he has done. Sometimes life can seem so unfair to those of us who want nothing more than peace," said Irvine with a gloomy look on his face.  
  
"I wonder what that bastard is doing right now. He broke out, killed Fiona, ruined all of our lives, and has done so many other things to hurt us. I would hate to even think of what he is going to do next. It can't possibly be any worse than all that he has done so far. Irvine, do you think that we will ever catch him?" asked Moonbay with the frown still present.  
  
"Doubt it. If we find him, Van will be more likely to kill him before we can get a chance to take him prisoner. Not that I really mind. This world is too good for the likes of him, even if he is in prison. The world would be better off without him," said Irvine with determination in his voice. "Hey. If I found Van I might even want to help him in that little task," said Irvine trying to lighten the mood a little.  
  
It worked too. After he said that he could hear a small laugh coming from Moonbay. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go and get that bastard," said Moonbay with a renewed spirit.  
  
"We still have one major problem with that one little plan," said Irvine gloomily. He had been trying to think of anyway in which he could fix it but at that moment he wasn't having very much luck.  
  
"What that?" asked Moonbay curiously. Although she asked she basically already knew what he was going to say. That thought didn't really help to brighten her spirit anymore. She figured that the two of them might be able to work together in order to be able to fix it.  
  
"We still have no idea where he is at. I think that that is one of the other reasons that Van left, to try and get more clues to his location instead of sitting around here trying to find it. Even in a military base, there are still fewer resources than the outside world," said Irvine.  
  
"Than we will let Van work out there and we will use the few resources that we have here. Each have there own different type of resources so it would be better to use both," said Moonbay with a smile.  
  
"I think that that is a great idea. So let's get to work so that we will have at least some news for Van once he gets back. Little is better than none. So lets get to work and get as much as we can," said Irvine with a small smirk on his face.  
  
*****  
  
"Where are you taking me? This had better not be some sort of trap or you will regret it," said Van with a threatening tone in his voice as he followed the strange man. They had been walking for hours and it was starting to get on Van's nerves.  
  
"Not much farther now. We will be there soon, very soon," said the man in a nervous voice. At the moment he really didn't want to get on Van's nerves at that moment.  
  
"That is what you said two hours ago and it doesn't feel like it was soon, very soon, as you had put it two hours ago as well," said Van with deep annoyance, plus the fact that the man's voice was starting to give him a headache. Van could swear that it was a frog trying to speak horribly instead of it being a man talking the way he normally does, at least in Van's opinion.  
  
"But we are. I swear that we are almost there so please be patient for a little while longer. We will be there in a few minutes. So please don't kill me," said the man in a nervous voice.  
  
'What a coward this guy is. This guy is supposed to be an assassin. I always thought they were supposed to be fearless, don't follow anyone's orders except those that hired them, and not afraid of death. Yet this guy is afraid of me, will do whatever I tell him to do, and is afraid of death. This guy is definitely a strange one. It could be that he isn't really an assassin. That would definitely explain a lot of things,' thought Van with a confused look on his face. 'It is not like I am actually going to kill him. I just do this to keep an appearance up. I am not going to become a murderer like Zack, but when it comes down to Zack I think that I may be able to make a small exception on killing,' thought Van with a smirk on his face.  
  
After a few more minutes of walking, Van was on his last fuse. "Alright! It has been far too long! Where the hell is this place?" yelled Van when they have yet to find anything.  
  
He brought out his father's old knife and the man freaked out. "W-we're here," stuttered the man with wide eyes. He pounded his foot on the ground and a small door popped up.  
  
"Wow. That is a bit convenient. He must really like these type of places since I have never seen him with anything else," said Van in wonder. Van had his back turned to the assassin. Without Van knowing, the man pulled out a small dagger and was prepared to strike Van with it. Without even looking at what he was doing, Van brought his elbow back into the man's face. "Don't even think about it," said Van in annoyance. He turned around to see the man laying unconscious on the ground. "I still wonder if he is really an assassin," muttered Van before he ignored it and walked down into the depth of this unknown place. 


	4. they meet again

Off in the distance Raven stood above a cliff watching in interest as Van walked into the small gate that had come out of the ground. A smirk formed over his face as he watched it all. "I wonder what he is up to," said Raven with the smirk on his face. Her then turned around to head back to the genobreaker and the awaiting Reese.  
  
"What's going on Raven? Why is Van here of all places?" asked Reese with a confused look on her face. The two of them came to this deserted area to get away from everyone and they found Van.  
  
"No idea. He appeared to be following someone though. Van isn't one for secrets, so I think that something might be going on," asked Raven with a smirk on his face as he waited for Reese to answer.  
  
"You are probably right about all of this but something really doesn't feel right about the place that Van had just walked into. I can feel two different zoidian powers coming from inside the place. I really don't like the feel of those powers either," said Reese with a slightly nervous look on her face.  
  
"Can you tell me who is in there? Maybe we can get an idea of what is going to happen," said Raven as he kept on eye on the place.  
  
"As much as I hate to say this. I can feel the presence of Zack in that place," said Reese with anger growing in her voice. She could tell that Raven was angry as well by the growl that she was hearing coming from him. "The other one I can't quite place. It is very familiar but it is impossible for it to be there after what I heard happen," said Reese with confusion in her voice.  
  
"This might turn ugly. Van is out for revenge. I am still trying to get a few of the damages that he did to the genobreaker repaired from the last time he was in this exact same state. Stay here, I am going in there. I have a score to settle with that guy as well so I might as well help Van out," said Raven with a grin on his face as he cracked his knuckles.  
  
"Whatever. You had better not keep me waiting too long though. Just feeling that guys presence sends shivers down my spine," said Reese with an annoyed look on her face.  
  
"Fine. Just as long as you wait here, I will be as fast as I can," said Raven as he took off in a run in the direction of the gate. 'Time to get that guy for ruining so many years of my life while they were trying to get Reese. He will pay,' thought Raven with a smirk.  
  
*****  
  
The place was very dark at that moment. There was still a small light though. It was a distance in front of Van and he had a feeling that that was where he had to go. He kept his father's knife out incase someone decided to try and jump him at any moment in that very dark place. Van's eyes kept darting around as if expecting any movement from all of the areas that surrounded him. Yet there wasn't any noise at all. The place seemed to be completely empty at that very moment. It seemed a bit strange for Van.  
  
"What is he up to? After what he did, anyone would think that he would have the brains to set up a defense to protect him. That is what he usually does; he sits back and lets everyone else do the work for him. So why is it that he doesn't have anyone with him at this moment?" asked Van with confusion showing on his face. It seemed that no matter how hard he tried, Van couldn't figure out how this guy thinks. You would expect him to do one thing yet he always ends up doing something else.  
  
A slight laugh caught Van's ears causing a growl to come to Van's throat when he recognized it as Zack's. His features turned dark and a scowl came across his face. 'At least I know that he is here,' thought Van as he walked forward.  
  
Van was now standing in front of a slightly cracked door. The light that he had been seeing had been coming from in there. Van got close to the door and looked in to see Zack standing in the empty room as if waiting for something. Van learned what he had been waiting for only a few seconds later.  
  
"About time you get here Van Flyheight. What are you waiting for? Why don't you come in here so we can talk," said Zack as he broke out in his annoying form of laughter once again which drove Van a bit nuts at just hearing him doing that.  
  
Van gripped his father's knife even tighter as he opened the door more and walked into the room. He was now face to face with the person that he wished more than anything to just drop dead.  
  
Van's eyes had a darkness to them at that moment. It actually frightened Zack a little seeing them. He also knew that he was the cause of this. Just thinking about that made him laugh.  
  
"Now really Van. Why such the dark face when I brought you here to talk for a little while?" asked Zack with another laugh. He was really enjoying watching Van suffer more and more. 'All this suffering is only the beginning for him. More will come soon enough,' thought Zack with a smirk.  
  
"What do you mean you brought me here? I forced that assassin that you sent to bring me here," said Van in what came out as a growl. At that moment Van felt like lunging at that guy and strangling every last bit of air out of him but he knew that would be stupid especially since he knew that Zack was actually expecting that.  
  
"Do you honestly think I would hire an assassin that weak to try and kill you. He was a decoy. I used him so that he would bring you to me and you fell for it," said Zack with a laugh.  
  
'God this guy is annoying,' thought Van with a sigh. "You know, I figured that I might have been something like that. He seemed too pathetic to be an assassin. It suited me just fine. Right now I have no problems dying. That is why I had no fear in coming here. If it will allow me to be with Fiona then I will gladly do that," said Van as he gripped the knife tighter.  
  
"You say you have no problems with dying but what about your daughter? Wouldn't she have a problem with it?" asked Zack with a smirk on his face. He knew that Van would take that part very seriously.  
  
"Don't you dare lay a hand on my daughter," growled Van growing angrier by a second. "If you do then I will make sure that you go straight to hell. Then again, maybe I will just send you there anyways," yelled Van in pure fury.  
  
"I have no interest in your daughter whatsoever. I only needed her for my little project but since that was a complete failure, I don't need her anymore. You know what. You really need to learn to control you anger a bit more. One day it is going to end up being the end of you. I really don't think that you really care about that though. You don't care what others will feel about it," said Zack with a laugh.  
  
"Shut up! What do you know about anything like that? You don't care about anyone's feeling when you murder their friends, their family, or their loved ones, so you have no reason to even talk," yelled Van in his fury.  
  
"That may be true Flyheight but what about your daughter and also your friends? I am sure that they would have a problem with it as well. Only thinking about yourself at time like this. Talk about being selfish," said Zack still smirking. He was definitely enjoying getting on Van's nerves.  
  
"What about you? When you killed Fiona, all you wanted was to see me suffer. I would call that very selfish as well," growled Van as his anger started to get the better of him. He was barely holding himself back from attacking a foolish attack. He wouldn't mind dying as long as he took Zack with him. "Fiona can't rest in peace until you are dead," yelled Van in rage.  
  
"Fiona, Fiona. Where have I heard that name before? Oh yes, that is right. She was the girl I once captured and later killed," said Zack acting a bit stupid since he had run into her several times. He was only doing this at that moment because he was only toying with Van before the real show started. "I know that I am very selfish also. I only look after myself, my needs, and my wants. Oh and talking about that. You won't get to fight with me unless you beat someone of my choosing," said Zack with a smirk.  
  
"And why should I follow by your rules?" asked Van gripping the knife tighter. "What makes you think that I won't just decide to face you before that can even happen?" asked Van in a dangerously low voice.  
  
"Because I am sure that you will find it very interesting who your opponent will be," said Zack as he snapped his fingers. A secret door suddenly opened and a figure stepped out of it. Zack just smirked at what was going to happen.  
  
*****  
  
"God! Five hours straight of looking and you would think that even a very small clue would reveal itself," yelled Moonbay as she slammed her fist on the computer that she was using.  
  
"Well I did find a very small thing but I don't think it will be of any help to us," said Irvine rubbing his forehead because Moonbay wouldn't stop complaining. He knew perfectly well that it was not wise to tick off Moonbay if it was a answer she didn't like.  
  
"What is that? Things about his past, his current location, anything will be good with me as long as it is a little information," said Moonbay in a slightly excited voice. She was desperate to hear what it was. 'I will be glad if it is even a little background information to tell us why he does all of this, but for some reason I have this feeling that that is not what Irvine had found,' thought Moonbay.  
  
"It turns out we aren't the only ones that are looking for him. The republic and the empire are both looking for him as well," said Irvine with a nervous laugh by the annoyed look that was now on Moonbay's face.  
  
"It took you that long to find that out? That guy is the enemy to all of planet Zi! Of course they are both going to be out searching for him if he is a threat to all of society, as we know it. Plus that and they have been looking for him the last time he tried something! He obviously doesn't get out much if neither of them could find any sign of him back then," Moonbay yelled at Irvine in which he backed away.  
  
"Ok, Ok. I guess that that wasn't exactly the best of information. It is something that they found though that caught my attention. Apparently lately there have been a number of break-ins at science labs all over the planet. This had also been going on since before he was originally caught, but only now has it been reported," said Irvine in confusion.  
  
"How do we even know that it is him? It could have been anyone trying to get an easy buck by selling things that were just created," said Moonbay thinking that it really had no evidence to prove that it was him," said Moonbay after a moment of thought.  
  
"Apparently he was careless or just a bit stupid while doing these because the security tapes have shown that the intruder was him. Before that time it was thought that it was just a common thief because no one even knew what he looked like until about the time that he was caught. When the owners of the places saw what he looked like they, they immediately recognized him from the tapes and called the militaries to look into it," said Irvine with interest.  
  
"Since when has he been into petty theft? I thought he was more into destruction than anything else. So why break into places like that? Also Irvine this is pretty big news, not small news as you had put it," asked Moonbay with just as much confusion as Irvine at the moment.  
  
"That isn't even the strange part. What makes it strange is that he didn't take anything that could threaten anyone. All of these science places are also medical stations. They are in charge of creating things to help people with their problems. All he took was simple drugs that are used in research. Also a few counter drugs to stop the effects of them," said Irvine in confusion.  
  
"What could all of this even mean? Also what types of the effects do the drug even have?" asked Moonbay with just as much confusion in her voice. None of it made any sense to him.  
  
"Let's see. There was a drug to induce a deep sleep, and other minor drugs that have no real effect by themselves. Maybe he just did it because he was having trouble sleeping since we were constantly out looking for him that he had to sleep in fear, but for some reason I don't think that that was what he had in mind for the purpose for doing this. He has to have some other reason for doing this. I just can't figure it out though," said Irvine rubbing his head where a headache was starting to form.  
  
"Why use those of all things when there could have been many other things that could cause pain and suffering? It doesn't make any sense to me either. Maybe he took him to turn them into something dangerous for him to use. Then again, he might have tried to use it on us before, yet all he used was his zoids. Maybe we should just let the military handle this and we can just work on find him. it will be too confusing to keep thinking on something like this," said Moonbay with a shrug of her shoulders. She then turned back to the computer.  
  
"I guess that that will be a good idea. I wonder how Van is doing with his search at this very moment. I hope that he is having a bit better of luck than we are," muttered Irvine as he too turned back to his screen and started to look for more information on Zack.  
  
*****  
  
The door had now completely opened up and out walked a woman. 'Wait a moment. That is the same woman that I saw earlier. What is she doing here?' Van asked himself as she approached Zack and stood right next to him.  
  
"This will be your opponent Van. You beat her and you might be allowed to face me. There is far more to this though than you can even think. Also I recommend that you don't hold back just because she is a woman because if you do then she will kick you around like it is nothing," said Zack with a laugh as the woman smirked at Van.  
  
"I am not going to fight a woman. It is just not right. You are a coward for hiding behind her like this. For once why don't you stand up and fight for yourself instead of through other?" yelled Van in frustration. It was even more frustrating that this woman still looked familiar to Van even though he could place where it was.  
  
"Because this way it is far too much fun to watch instead of experiencing it first hand," said Zack with a smirk on his face. He also had one other reason for doing all of this but he knew Van would find out sooner or later.  
  
"I bet it is that you are too weak and afraid to take me on yourself. That's it, isn't it?" asked Van now trying to provoke him enough to get him to fight instead. Van was hoping that it would work too.  
  
"Sorry, but I am not the type to overreact to stuff like that. I find that it merely moves me a bit more in the direction of what I have plans for," said Zack with a smirk. "Now, my darling Megan. Why don't you go and show our guest why he shouldn't mess with me," said Zack to the woman.  
  
"Yes master," said the woman Megan in a calm and collected voice. "I will do as you say," said the woman with a bow if her head before walking a standing a few feet away from Van, facing in his direction.  
  
"I don't want to fight you. Why are you even following his orders? He will probably just get rid of you if you do one thing wrong," said Van hoping that Megan would listen and just back down.  
  
"He wouldn't do that to me. He loves me so I know that he won't hurt me. You should just worry about yourself for right now instead of people whose lives don't concern you," said Megan in a voice that oddly enough sounded familiar to Van as well.  
  
She just smirked at him as if she was waiting for him to make the first move. Van however didn't move and inch. He just stood there watching her. She then made the initial strike. She lunged at Van and Van moved out of the way at the last second hoping to not have to fight but just tire her out. After a few times something to Van that it wasn't going to work.  
  
"Come on! Fight me or else you will die by my hands without even retaliating," yelled Megan as she ran at Van again preparing to hit him. She was about to hit him but Van grabbed her out of mid air and held her in place. She continued to struggle against his grasp but it was doing her no good.  
  
"I have no grudge against you so I will not fight you. I don't see any reason as to why you want to fight me besides the fact that he wants you to. Do you plan to be his slave all of your life?" asked Van still holding her in mid air with little effort because she was relatively light in weight.  
  
"I follow his orders and that is all that really matters to me. Nothing you say or do will stop me from doing that. He is all that I have, so I will do anything to help him," said Megan as she made a quick movement sending Van and herself falling to the ground.  
  
However, something happen and a part of her shirt ripped slightly. Van looked up from the ground to see the laying on the ground a few feet glaring at him. What else he saw took him by surprise and scared him more than anything had ever done. There unveiled by the small tear in the top of her shirt was a still healing bullet wound. He could manage to say only one word, "Fiona." 


	5. escape

Zack watched in amusement as Van discovered this little secret. 'Oh yes. Everything is working exactly as I had planned for it to go. Turning the two against each other would make the best kind of suffering for him,' thought Zack with a smirk on his face that didn't go unnoticed by Van.  
  
Van sprung to his feet and immediately ran straight towards Zack before anyone in the room could even react. He was now right in Zack's face with his hands clenched around the guy's throat. "What the hell did you do to her!" yelled Van into the man's face. To say that Van was pissed was a major understatement.  
  
"Now, now. I thought you might be happy to see your beloved Fiona again," Zack whispered into Van's ear so that no one else could hear. "I am hurt that you don't like my little gift," whispered Zack with a smirk on his face.  
  
"What the hell do you mean a gift? You brainwashed her," yelled Van right into his face. "Change her back now!" yelled Van tightening his grip on Zack's neck while saying all of this. He wasn't able to say anything else thought because a gunshot was heard and he fell to the floor in pain. Van looked at himself and found a wound in his right shoulder. Grimacing from the pain, Van looked up to see Fiona holding the gun. "Fiona?" said Van weakly.  
  
"Who the hell is Fiona? My name is Megan. Not that it is of any concern to you, you pitiful man," said Fiona with a smirk on her face. She then walked over towards Zack and stood right next to him.  
  
"Good work my love," said Zack with a smile on his face. He then did something that startled Van greatly. He kissed her. While doing all of this he kept an eye on Van watching the emotions that clearly played across his face, both the physical and mental pains.  
  
Van was hurt in every way. After going through so much these past few weeks. He found the one that he loved the most only to have her in the arms of his enemy. Van could feel his heart being shredded in his chest. 'No, It can't be. It just can't be,' thought Van with a very pained look on his face.  
  
Everyone else in the room saw the look on his face. Fiona looked down upon him with cold eyes. "Such a pitiful man. Wouldn't you say so?" she asked with a smirk upon her face.  
  
"Definitely. He is pathetic. Living only in the past. He just needs to learn to accept change," said Zack with a even wider grin than before. He then took a step towards Van but stopped when something rolled in front of him. "What the," said Zack not knowing what to expect at that moment.  
  
Van immediately recognized what it was an shielded his eyes, but Zack and Fiona weren't so lucky when an extremely bright flash lit the room. Anyone who saw the thing was temporarily blinded.  
  
By the time that the flash wore down the only people that were left were Zack and Fiona. "Where the hell did Van go? Also, who threw that thing? They couldn't have gotten very far," said Zack as he raced out of the room with Fiona walking out right in front of him.  
  
The room was now completely empty and not sound was heard. Hidden in the shadows though was Raven holding the injured Van. "We have to find a way out of here," said Raven stepping out of the area.  
  
"Let me go. I have to go after him. I can't let him get away," said Van in a weak voice. He then grimaced with pain clutching his shoulder. "I can't let him get away with this, with what he has done," Van continued very weakly.  
  
As much as I am sure that you would love to kill that guy right now. Believe me, I feel the exact same way at this moment, but you are not in the best of conditions to be doing any fighting. Plus that an I don't really feel like dying anytime soon. So we have to find a way out of here," said Raven taking a look around the place.  
  
"There is a secret room behind one of the walls. Maybe there is a way out through there. It is risky though. I don't know what is behind it," said Van while pointing with his good arm towards the wall that Fiona had come through earlier.  
  
"Anything is worth a try right now. Especially if we are not going to be able to get out through the front door like before," said Raven walking towards the wall that Van was pointing to. Without a second thought he kicked as hard as he could sending the door flying.  
  
"No doubt that they most likely heard that. I guess that we will just let them think that we went that way. At least that will leave the way out open. That guy is an idiot because he has no soldiers around here," said Raven, pulling Van into the area that he hid in before.  
  
No sooner had he done that then Zack and Fiona came running into the room. "Crap. Stay here and watch the exit incase they try and get out," Zack told Fiona as he ran into the area that was now opened.  
  
'Crap. I didn't think something like this would happen. No big deal. One woman is not going to stop me from getting out of here alive. Even if it is that girl Fiona,' thought Raven with a grim expression on his face. Luckily for Raven, Fiona had her back turned towards him. Getting up from his hiding place, he walked as quietly as possible towards Fiona. She hadn't heard him the whole time. Bringing his hand back, he brought it down hard enough on her neck to knock her out cold.  
  
Still clutching his shoulder. Van walked out from the corner and now stood next to Raven. "Will she be alright?" asked Van with a worried look on his face. "She may have hurt me but she is still Fiona despite all that Zack had done to her," said Van holding his bleeding shoulder.  
  
"She'll be fine. She is only unconscious, not dead. Now can we get out of here because I don't feel like staying here any longer than I have to," said Raven. Very reluctantly he bent down and grabbed Fiona.  
  
"Just help me get her to my blade liger. I will take her from there back to the guardian force HQ. I think that I will be able to get her some help there," said Van as the two moved as fast as they could out of the place.  
  
"Whatever. As much as I hate to say it, I guess I owe you something for helping me get Reese back before," muttered Raven just as they were running out of the place. They suddenly heard a loud yell indicating that Zack knew what they had just done. "I think that it would be better to move a little fast," said Raven picking up his pace.  
  
"Great idea. I will just have to come back and kill him later," said Van following closely behind. They ran all the way until they were at the genobreaker and the awaiting Reese.  
  
"I thought that was what I felt," was the first thing that Reese said when they showed up and she saw the unconscious Fiona. "let's get going. Zack is heading in this direction right now," said Reese turning to get in the genobreaker.  
  
"Um, I just have one question. How are you going to be able to take me to my blade liger?" asked Van turning to Raven to await his answered. All he saw was Raven with an annoyed look on his face.  
  
To say the least, it was very crowded inside the genobreaker. Raven sat at the controls with Reese in his lap. Van sat in the back seat holding the still unconscious Fiona in his arms. The only difference from before was that now Fiona had her hands tied up just incase she woke up.  
  
Nobody dared to say anything. So naturally the genobreaker was very quiet and it was starting to get on Van's nerves a bit. Luckily it wasn't that long until they came upon the location of the blade liger. Van just got out of it with Fiona and without a word Raven and Reese left him there. "See you," muttered Van to no one in specific.  
  
Van heard a soft groan coming from Fiona and immediately knew that she was starting to wake. He quickly hurried and put her into the blade liger. A few moments past after that and she opened her eyes.  
  
She only took one look at the scene and an outraged face came upon her. "What the hell am I doing here? Let me go right this instant!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. She looked and saw Van hop into the cockpit with his still injured shoulder. "How dare you do this. Let me go right this instant," she repeated herself.  
  
"Sorry, I can't do that. Not until you are in your right mind again. Only then will I let you go," said Van not even turning to her. He didn't have to look to know that she was furious at him for doing this. "Listen. You are not who you think you are. He has been lying to you," said Van typing in a few commands as the blade liger got moving.  
  
"Of course I am in my right mind. It is you who aren't for trying to take me like this. He is not going to let you get away with this. As soon as he finds you, you aren't going to have much longer to live," growled Fiona in a dangerous tone.  
  
Van just ignored her since he knew the real Fiona would never say stuff like that. Listen. Your name is Fiona, not Megan. You were my fiancée. Zack killed you, but apparently you weren't dead after all. He has done something to your mind to make you think the way that you are currently thinking," said Van calmly.  
  
"You are lying. He would never do something like that to me. He loves me, and would never hurt me. So you have to be lying," growled Fiona without an ounce of hesitation in her voice as if she actually believed that.  
  
"What I speak of is the truth and soon you will remember everything. Things will be a lot better for you when that happens," said Van in a calm. He turned his head to look at Fiona but grimaced in pain and then he turned back to the front.  
  
'Probably is still hurting from when I shot him. Serves him right for attacking Zack. I wonder if he is ok though. AH, what the heck am I thinking,' thought Fiona shaking her head hard. She looked forward to see Van staring at her with a face full of shock. "What are you looking at?" growled Fiona.  
  
"Nothing," said Van once again turning back to keep an eye ahead of him. What he saw while he was watching her was strange. Right before she shook her head, he could have swore that he saw her hair and eye color turn back to normal for a fraction of a second. 'Maybe it was my imagination,' thought Van with a small sigh.  
  
*****  
  
Moonbay just sat there bored out of her mind. She hated getting stuck doing work that was meant for military people. 'I am not even in the military. All I am is a transporter. Irvine is a pilot and part of the guardian force because of it. Why couldn't they make him do this job?' Moonbay asked herself. She heard the sound of the door opening and when she turned her head she saw Irvine walking into the room. She glared at him causing a confused look to come across his face. Then a look that asked what he did showed itself.  
  
"What did I do to make you glare at me like that? I don't remember doing anything wrong today to allow me one of your glares," said Irvine with a confused look on his face.  
  
"Never mind," said an annoyed Moonbay turning back in her seat. She was wishing at that moment that the time would go by much faster so that she could get out of there but her wish didn't come true. 'I hate doing this,' thought Moonbay with a growl but it was stopped when a beeping sound was heard. 'I wonder who that could be,' thought Moonbay pressing a button.  
  
What popped up for them was a picture of a very serious looking Van. "What's up Van, and what happened to your shoulder?" asked Moonbay upon seeing Van. What she got though was worried with the apprehensive look that was on Van's face.  
  
"I am coming back. Have a medical team ready when I get there," said Van with a grim look on his face. Anyone could tell that it would be pointless to argue with him but Irvine got a little curious.  
  
"What for? That wound in your shoulder doesn't look like it needs that much medical attention. It looks like it just needs to be bandaged up in order for it to be ok. Don't you think a medical team is going a little too far?" asked Irvine with a curious look upon his face.  
  
"I was thinking the exact same thing as Irvine," said Moonbay grabbing the coffee that she had in front of her and bringing it to her lip to get a drink from it. She just held onto it while she waited for him to explain.  
  
"It isn't for me. The wound is only a flesh wound. It didn't hit any organs or bones. I need it for something else," said Van with an anxious look on his face. They still didn't get what he wanted it for though.  
  
"Then what do you need it for?" asked a very curious Moonbay. She then took another sip of her coffee and then just held it there as her eyebrow curved up to show her curiosity.  
  
"For her," said Van. The screen then changed to show the annoyed woman in the backseat of the blade liger. The sound of something shattering was heard from the coffee cup that Moonbay dropped.  
  
"I-it can't be. H-how is it even possible?" asked a very shocked Moonbay with her hand held up like it was still holding the coffee cup. Her face was a ghostly pale color as she looked at Fiona. 'She's alive? How can that even be possible. Sure, she looks a little different but I am positive that that is Fiona,' thought a very shocked Moonbay.  
  
"I'll tell you when I get back. Something is wrong with her and I will need help to stop it from happening. So just have them ready by the time that I get there. I should reach there in about an hour so." said Van but the screen suddenly went dead.  
  
"Hey! What the hell just happened? Where did the picture go?" asked Moonbay typing a few keys but no response came back. "What is going on?" asked a frustrated Moonbay slamming her hands on the keyboard.  
  
"It could be a sand storm. Van would have noticed if something was coming. He didn't seem to have any trouble at that moment. Let's just do as he says and wait for him to return," said a shocked Irvine. He was shocked at seeing that Fiona was alive despite the new look that she had. Just like Moonbay, he knew that it had to be her. 'I wonder what is wrong with her. There didn't appear to be anything wrong beside the slight attitude that she had,' thought Irvine curiously as he turned and left the door.  
  
*****  
  
About an hour after that, Moonbay and Irvine were waiting for Van's return. They were very eager to see their friend once again. They had done as he had said and got a few medical people to help them, but they were still unsure about what it was needed for at the moment.  
  
"I wonder what Van wanted it for. Do you have any idea on why he asked for a medical team?" asked a curious Irvine as he stared and waited for Van to come walking through the hanger doors.  
  
"I have no idea whatsoever. Beside the wound on his shoulder, there didn't appear to be any injuries to either of them. Hey, what do you think is up with Fiona's new look?" asked Moonbay getting off the subject since she knew it would annoy her to keep thinking about that.  
  
"I was a bit curious about that. I wonder why she did it. I also wonder why she never told us that she was still alive. We are her closest friends after all. I am guessing that she didn't tell Van until he found her. They were getting married after all," said Irvine.  
  
The opening of the hanger doors then caught their ears. The blade liger then came walking into the hanger bay. It appeared to have a small ding in it. "Guess he got into a small fight on the way back here," said Irvine upon seeing the blade liger's condition.  
  
The blade liger came to a stop. What happened next they didn't expect. They waited for Van to jump out of the blade liger with Fiona in his arms. That didn't happen. As soon as the cockpit opened, a gasp came from Moonbay as Van fell out of the cockpit of the blade liger and hit the ground hard.  
  
"Van!" Moonbay and Irvine yelled in unison as they rushed to his side. Blood was going everywhere. Many different wounds covered him all over his body. He was breathing but very weakly.  
  
"What the hell could have happened?" Moonbay asked. She looked to see Irvine standing over the cockpit with a sad look on his face. She didn't need to be told what it meant. It meant that Fiona wasn't in there at that moment. "What could have happened?" Moonbay asked herself as she watched her friend be taken away. 


	6. Van's personal journey

All was quiet in the room except for the constant beeping of the machines showing that Van was still alive. Nobody really knew what to talk about. Many questions were flying through their heads.  
  
Thomas however was the first person to speak in a while. "Do you guys actually think that it was her? Fiona, I mean," said Thomas with a small sigh as he leaned back in the chair that he was sitting in.  
  
"Only Van knows that for sure, and at the moment he isn't in any condition to say. I do think that it is though. They looked a lot alike. Van seemed pretty sure but he could be wrong," said Moonbay with a sigh just like Thomas.  
  
"My question is what exactly happened out there to put Van in the state that he is currently in? If it was Fiona, then I know she wouldn't have done something like this. There was something very different about that woman though," said an exhausted Irvine while he leaned into his chair.  
  
"You are right about that. The attitude appeared to be completely different. Not to mention the way she looked. I would remember that face anywhere. It was definitely Fiona's despite those changes," said Thomas with a sad face.  
  
"We know that Thomas. We are going to get nowhere though unless we can talk to Van. He is out like a light though. We will be lucky if he wakes up anytime soon," said Irvine with a sigh.  
  
"If it was Fiona, then why would she do something like this to Van. She loves him and would never hurt him this way. I really have no idea on what is going on," said Moonbay.  
  
Throughout all of the conversation, no one noticed that someone else was listening into what they were saying. Van groaned slightly and it caught their attention to the fact that he was awake.  
  
"He's awake? How the hell is that even possible while he is in the condition that he is currently?" asked Irvine with a confusion that everyone had on as they saw Van's eyes open up slightly.  
  
"What happened to you Van? How did you get into the state that you are currently in?" asked a worried Moonbay. She saw in his eyes a hurt like no other. She didn't want to mention it yet but she knew that she had to ask sometime. "Was that really Fiona?" asked Moonbay in a quiet voice.  
  
"It. it is her. I am positive of that," said Van in a weak voice. "Her mind has been messed with she doesn't remember anything. All that seems to be left is hatred towards us placed there by Zack. He has also made it so that she feels a lot of loyalty to him. It is almost like now she is actually in love with him rather than me," said Van sadly as he attempted to sit up. He cringed in pain as he clutched his ribs just trying to fully sit up for the moment.  
  
"Don't move Van. You are injured and I am sure that you don't want it to get worse," said a worried Moonbay as she pushed him lightly down upon the bed. He wasn't able to put up much resistance because of his injuries.  
  
"How can you be sure that it is even her Van? I admit they do look a little alike but that could mean anything. How can you be positive that it is actually Fiona?" asked Thomas staring at Van with as much attention as he could give.  
  
"A bullet wound where she was shot a few weeks ago. It was there in the exact same place. That bastard even admitted it quietly to me when I confronted it about it. He didn't want her to know so he merely whispered it to me. I couldn't do anything to him because a second after that, she shot me," said Van in a slightly shaken voice. He just couldn't believe that all this happened to him. He first thought that she was dead but now she was alive and hated him. He just couldn't help as a small tear fell down his face.  
  
"How did you get so badly injured?" Moonbay asked one of questions she originally asked again. She could see a pained look in his eye like he didn't want to talk about any of it at that moment. Moonbay couldn't really blame him either. All of this talking must be very hard on him after what had happened.  
  
"It was right after I contacted you. The communication went off when I was hit in the side with a lot of force. I was taken by surprise so the blade liger was thrown around for a little bit before I was suddenly thrown out of it. At the time I wasn't too injured except for a wound I got when I found her originally. It was then that I saw Zack jump out of a zoid. I was a bit stunned by being thrown out of the blade liger that I couldn't react fast enough as he started to kick me around like I was nothing but a rag doll. By the time he was done, I was in the condition that I am in now. He quickly took Fiona away from em again. And then. and then," said Van. It pained him too much to be able to explain what happened next. It all was just too much for him to be able to take. It would probably be too much for anyone to be able to handle.  
  
The pain was even clearer now then before. Moonbay figured that she would just get the answers that she was looking for after Van was feeling at least a little bit better. She knew that she could wait for that time to come. Until then she would just wait. Moonbay looked to Irvine for anything that they could do. Irvine just nodded his head towards the door. Moonbay understood easily. It was best to leave Van alone for right now. Allow him a little time to collect himself before they tried to get a little bit of information out of him. They all stood up and quiet walked out of the room for which Van was grateful for although he didn't say anything.  
  
All was quiet for a few minutes until Van heard the door to the room open. He turned to look and he saw his daughter standing there looking at him with the sad face that she has had since Fiona's so called death. "Come here," said Van sitting up while cringing a little as he held out his arms for which his daughter jumped right into them.  
  
No words were said. Van couldn't help but think thought. 'She is too young for these types of problems. She loves Fiona so greatly that it hurt when we all thought Fiona died. I wonder what she would be like if she knew that Fiona was still alive and the way that she is right now. It could hurt worse than when Fiona died,' thought Van sadly.  
  
Kristi was very scared at that moment. She had lost her mother and when she saw that her father was hurt, it scared her that she might lose him too. She just held onto him tightly afraid of letting him go.  
  
"Shhhhhh. It is ok. I will be fine. It was just a few scratches. So there is nothing to worry about now," said Van trying to get his daughter to stop crying. It didn't seem to be doing much good at the moment. She didn't seem to want to stop crying. Van just continued to hold her for a little while longer until she seemed to calm down a little bit. She still seemed to be shaking a little bit but Van was at least glad that she was a little calmer.  
  
"You nearly left me like mommy," said Kristi through small sobs into his shoulder. She just clutched onto Van like if she let go that Van would just suddenly disappear.  
  
"No of course not. I wouldn't just leave you like that. You are all I have left at the moment. I wouldn't just give that up," said Van a little weakly because of his injuries. He didn't stop trying to calm her down though.  
  
The door opened a few minutes later and Moonbay came walking in. She gave a small smile as she watched Van trying to comfort his daughter. She saw how tired Van looked at that moment and as much as she hated to break it, she knew that Van had to get some rest. She quietly walked up to the two and shook Kristi a little bit. Kristi turned to look at her and Moonbay spoke quietly. "Come on. Why don't we let your father rest a little? He has been through a lot," said Moonbay not bringing up Fiona much to Van's relief.  
  
Kristi looked up at her father and he gave her a slight nod in reply. She reluctantly got up and followed Moonbay out of the room while Van laid back down and closed his eyes in hopes of getting a little sleep.  
  
*****  
  
Zack walked into a room. He saw Fiona sitting at a table that wasn't far away and he smiled. "You got awfully careless Megan for you to have been kidnapped so easily," said Zack with a smirk on his face. He felt a little amused by the expression she gave because of his words.  
  
"They took me by surprise. That is all that it was. It was Raven that helped him. Did you know that?" asked Fiona with a smirk on her face because of the knowledge that she was able to give to Zack.  
  
"So Rave is back in the picture is her?" asked Zack with a highly amused expression plastered onto his face. "I didn't think that he would help Van out like that. I guess we will have to keep an eye out for him," said Zack with a smirk before he noticed a curious expression on Fiona's face. "Is there something that you are wondering about?" asked Zack in a serious voice.  
  
"Who is this Fiona that Van kept talking about? I am very curious to know about her and why he seems to think that I am her somehow," said Fiona giving Zack her undivided attention.  
  
"She was Van's old Fiancée. He failed to protect her and she was killed. He somehow thinks that I was the one that was the cause of it. He is bent on taking you from me because of it. So don't listen to him if he keeps going on like that. He will try anything to get what he wants. You should be sure to watch out for him unless I am with you," said Zack with a smirk on his face because of what he was saying to the real Fiona.  
  
"You have nothing to worry about there. I am not going to fall for his lame tricks so easy. Plus, why would I go for him when I can have you?" asked Fiona with a smirk on her face.  
  
"That is all hat I needed to hear in order to be satisfied. I am sure that you won't do something like that to me," said Zack as he walked over and kissed the controlled Fiona. He was just enjoying doing all of this far too much. Fiona was under his control and she hated Van. This was all too good to be true for him.  
  
*****  
  
Van found himself in a field that was full of flowers. In the middle of the field stood a lone figure looking at him. It was Fiona. Van was slightly startled to see her but he was happy that she was there looking like she normally did. "Fiona," said Van in a soft voice as he slowly approached her.  
  
All she did was nod her head with a small smile on her face. "Hello Van," said Fiona as she took a step towards Van. She saw the happy look that was on his face and she frowned. "This isn't real Van. It is only a dream. I am sure that even you realize that. As good as it might be for you, it will all fade as soon as you wake up," said Fiona with the frown still present on her face.  
  
"I don't care if this is just a dream. You are here right now. Let me just spend a little time with you while I still can," said Van as he embraced Fiona in a tight hug. "I hate this! I hate seeing you with that man. It tore me up inside to see you in his arms instead of my own," said Van as a tear rolled down his face. "Life just seems to continue to be too cruel to me. First it took both of my parents and then it took you away from me. When is it that I will ever be able to be happy?" asked Van still crying.  
  
"It can only end if you are able to defeat Zack. That doesn't say that I will ever be the same ever again. For all we know, I could remain the way that I am now, a cold emotionless shell. Nothing like my old self," said Fiona in a calm voice as she held onto Van as well.  
  
"Is there any possible way for me to be able to get you back?" asked Van in a sorrowful voice. If Fiona might know of a way, then that would be great. Yet, he knew that he should probably prepare himself for the worst.  
  
"I am afraid that I have no idea if there is anything that you could do to help me," said Fiona as she watched Van hang his head in defeat. "Please don't give up though. If there is anyone that can find a way, I am sure that you are that person. I can only await until the day that we can finally be together in real life again. Please Van. I need your help. I know you can do it," said Fiona with a small smile before she suddenly disappeared.  
  
"Fiona!" yelled Van reaching out hoping to find her but she was gone. "No, I lost her again. I have to get her back. I have to find a way even if it takes my life. I hate seeing her like that," yelled Van.  
  
*****  
  
"Fiona!" yelled Van as he shot up in bed. He instantly regretted it though as he fell back down while clutching his ribs. "Damn it! It was just a dream like she said. It felt so real though. I know that I could feel her, smell her. I think that maybe it was more than just a normal dream. If Fiona wants my help, then I will give it to her," said Van as he looked around the room. Van spotted something a merely smiled at it.  
  
a few minutes passed and the door to Van's room swung open. Moonbay came walking into the room with a smile on her face. "God morning Van. I hope that you are feeling be." said Moonbay but she stopped when she saw that the room was completely empty. Van was nowhere in sight.  
  
Taking a look around the room in confusion, Moonbay barely spotted a small white note. She walked over and picked up the note to read it. 'To whoever is reading this, I am going out to get her. I figured that I better go before anyone can try and stop me because of my injuries. I am sorry for doing this but I have this feeling that I can get Fiona back. Please look after my daughter for me. Just tell her that I will be fine and that I promise that I will be back with hopefully a nice surprise. Please don't come looking for me. Like I said, I am sorry for doing this but it is something that I must do by myself to get over the feeling of guilt that I have for allowing this to happen in the first place. I have no idea how long I will be gone. I will not come back without her though. You can be sure of that.'  
  
Moonbay just stared at the note for a few seconds. She squeezed the note hard after that. "Damn you Va. What the hell do you think that you are doing? You will be of no help to her in the condition that you are currently in," muttered Moonbay as she stormed out of the room. She wasn't able to make it to the door before a small rumble shook the base. Moonbay ran to the window that they had and looked out only to see the blade liger running full speed across the sands away from the base. All she could seem to do is watch as it continued to run farther and farther away form the base.  
  
*****  
  
Van just sat in the cockpit of the blade liger as it ran through the sand. He was clutching his ribs and breathing a bit heavily. In his condition, it was hard for him to get around without anyone spotting him. That went double for his friends. He would never be able to look for Fiona if they continued to hold him back. He was a man determined to get the love of his life back and no one, not even his friends were going to stop him.  
  
"Oh man. I just thought of something. I don't even know where to start looking besides for the place that I found her before. More than likely they aren't there anymore. Not even Zack is stupid enough to do something like that. Who knows though, maybe I will be able to find a clue to their location there. I just hope that I don't run into anyone because I don't think that I would be able to take any strain on myself at this moment," said Van as he leaned back and closed his eyes. 'I am coming Fiona. I just hope that I will be able to get through to you. I will do anything to get you back,' thought Van with a sad look on his face.  
  
He knew that it would take a while to get there and without Zeke it would be hard to know if he was there but Van figured that he would at least take a short rest so that he was in better shape in order to fight if the need be.  
  
"Will I even be able to fight though? I can barely move right now. How will I even be able to protect myself? I could barely protect Fiona before when I was in full health. Now look what happened to her. I need to become stronger in order to get her back. That is why I didn't bring Zeke along. I can't keep relying on him to get me out of every situation. Although, I could definitely use his company right now because I am so bored. That isn't the problem though. I can't continue on until I know that I did all that I could to get Fiona back. That won't happen until I have her back and as her original self. Not any sooner than that. This time I will protect her the way I was supposed to before," said Van with determination as the blade liger charged through the sands. 


	7. dreams

Van flopped down on the ground after a hard day of searching. His wounds were hurting badly but he did not let that get him down. To him, his physical pains were nothing compared to the pains that his heart was feeling.  
  
"Fiona," muttered Van as he leaned back to ease his pains a little. The heat of the campfire that he made hit his face and gave him a slight relief from the chill that was in the air.  
  
"What is going to happen if I can't get you back?" Van asked himself as he stared up into the night sky. "No! I can't think that I won't get you back or I never will be able to. I know that you are still in there Fiona. I only need to find a way to get you back. There has to be some way of doing it. How is my real question," said Van with an expressionless look on his face. "There has to be a way and I am going to find out what it is," said Van before his eyes fell shut and he fell into a deep sleep.  
  
*****  
  
Van once again found himself in the field of flowers once again. He got slightly excited thinking that he would be able to see Fiona, but she was nowhere in sight. Van looked all over but he couldn't see anything but flowers.  
  
After a few minutes of searching, Van starting to give up hope of seeing her until he felt a pair of arms wrap around his waist from behind. He smiled since he already knew who it was. Very swiftly he turned around and grabbed a hold of Fiona. "I miss you," he whispered into her ear.  
  
She merely smiled as she held on to van tighter. "Hello Van," she said very softly. It was so quiet that even where he was, Van was nearly unable to hear her. She had something important to tell him though. "Van. There is something very important that I need to tell you," Fiona said as she separated away from Van despite his protests.  
  
"Where are you Fiona?" asked Van in a quiet tone. "Where is it that I can find you? If I can find that out then I might be able to get you back," said Van as he stared at the ground sadly.  
  
"Go far to the east Van. I am unable to give exact directions but you will know where I am talking about once you get there. That is what I wanted you to know. You will know where I am talking about when you get there," said Fiona with a small smile. "A little advice for you Van. While what Zack might have done to me may be strong, but it is not impossible to beat it. It can be overwhelmed at times to such an extent that even if it is for a short time I could return to my normal self. It is unlikely though because Zack holds the key to my soul. That just makes the time shorter. Find a way to reach me. Wake my soul from where it sleeps inside of the shell of what it once was. If you can open that up then you might just be able to return me to normal," advised Fiona with a small smile.  
  
Van was overjoyed that there might actually be some hope for all of this after all. He had no clue had to do what she said though. "Fiona. How am I supposed to do what you said?" asked Van in a disappointed voice. He hoped that Fiona also had an answer to this question.  
  
"I don't know. It has happened before though. Can you by any chance remember anything happening to me at one time no matter how strange it may be? I know that you were there when it happened," said Fiona as she stared at Van.  
  
Van thought long and hard for a few minutes before something struck him like lightning. "When I managed to get you back for that short time. I noticed something for a second. At first I thought that I was going crazy but I could have sworn that I saw you as you used to be. Could that be it?" asked Van with a little hope.  
  
"That is exactly when it all happened. It wasn't enough to get the effect that we both desired but it proves that whatever he did to me is not flawless. Please, I trust you more than anything to be able to get me back. I know that you can do this," said Fiona with a small smile.  
  
Van took a few steps forward and embraced Fiona in a tight hug. "I miss you Fiona," said Van with no intent on ever letting go. He knew that he would have to at some point but for that moment he just wanted to remain in this dream world and be with Fiona.  
  
"I miss you to. You can't stay here though. This isn't your world; it is my world for the moment. You have to go back to your own world and settle things there before we can ever be together again. I will forever wait for that day to happen," said Fiona as she let go of Van and took a step back.  
  
Everything started to fade around Van and he looked at Fiona to see that she was fading as well. "No," yelled Van as he ran towards her. He stopped though when she put up a hand meaning for him to stop.  
  
"Do not worry Van. I will continue to guide you along the way. You are waking up though and this is what happens to dream when a person wakes up, they fade away. Do not worry though. Just keep me in your heart and I am sure that all will be good," said Fiona with a small smile before she faded away.  
  
*****  
  
Van eyes sprung open quickly. He quickly sat up and rubbed his head. 'I hate it when I wake up from one of those. It just means that I have to live without her for even longer,' Van thought to himself with a yawn  
  
He got off of the ground and saw that the sun was just coming up over the horizon at that moment. All Van did was stand up and quietly walked over to the waiting liger. 'To the east, that is where I am going to go just like Fiona said,' thought Van with a smirk.  
  
*****  
  
"Where is my daddy?" asked Kristi when she couldn't find Van anywhere. She had lost her mother and she didn't want to take the chance of losing the only parent she had left.  
  
"There was a lot of stuff that he needed to do. He said for you to be a good girl while we look after you. He also told us that there might be a surprise for you when he comes back. So do you think that you can be a good girl until he comes back?" asked Moonbay with a smile. When she saw the excited look in Kristi's eyes at the mention of a surprise, Moonbay knew she would be a good girl.  
  
"Of course. I will be very good. I like surprises," Kristi said very happily. Kids were definitely easy to amuse when you wanted them to be. "Um... Where did daddy go though?" asked Kristi with an innocent look on her face.  
  
"To deal with some problems that has arisen. Nothing to worry about though, he will try and get them done as quickly as he can so that he can come back to you," said Moonbay with a grin. 'Or else I will go out there and drag him back, and Fiona to if I find her. She has a whole lot of explaining to do for us, even if she doesn't remember any of us,' thought Moonbay with a small chuckle.  
  
"What are you laughing about?" asked Kristi when she heard Moonbay chuckle slightly. She wanted to know what was so funny that it would make Moonbay laugh after all that had happened.  
  
"Um... nothing. I was just thinking about something funny. It is something that I don't think would be wise for you to know," said Moonbay looking at the small girl who happened to have a confused look on her face. "I'm sorry but I just can't tell you right now," said Moonbay with a sad look on her face.  
  
"It is ok," said Kristi with a smile on her face. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I can be patient," said the little girl still smiling. Kristi then saw Moonbay let off a sigh.  
  
"You are a lot like your mother kid," said Moonbay with a sad look on her face after that was there whenever Fiona was brought up. It only made it worse when she heard about what actually happened to her. Moonbay looked up to see that sad look on Kristi's face. "Come on now. Don't cry. I am sorry I brought it up. Come on. Why don't we go pock fun of Thomas or something along those lines," said Moonbay breaking the tension and making Kristi laugh.  
  
*****  
  
"Maybe it was all really just a dream I had. I have been traveling for days and I have yet to come across any villages that know anything about what I am talking about," Van told himself as he stared at the scenery that was around him. "I trust Fiona, but it was only a dream and it could have easily have been something that my mind made up for me," said Van with a small sigh. He was about to change his direction when something caught his eye.  
  
Smoke rose high up into the air. Van knew that wherever it was coming from that the place was definitely in trouble. Van turned very quickly and headed in that direction worried for the people of the town. He knew that while he may have been on his own personal mission that the people still needed to be protected.  
  
The horror that went through Van's eyes was unimaginable. The small town was in flames. All of the villagers were running around in a panic trying to get away from either the flames or possibly something else.  
  
Van quickly hopped out of the blade liger and ran deep into the village. There weren't many people in that one area but Van managed to luck out as a man ran by on his way out of the town. "What happened here?" asked Van over all the noise of the fire and peoples screams.  
  
"S-some woman came to this town and started to make demands. When she refused them, she just started to burn everything on fire," said the scared man as he tried to get going again before Van spoke.  
  
Van had a feeling that this was why he was sent this way in the place. "Where is this woman?" asked Van having a sneaking suspicion that it was Fiona that was behind all of this.  
  
"She's that way," said the scared man while pointing into a direction behind Van. He then quickly took off before she could find him.  
  
Van turned in the direction and with a slight nod of his head, he started to run in that direction. 'Remember Van; this is not the same Fiona that you remember. It is an evil and demented one,' Van told himself as an excuse for why Fiona would even try to do something like this.  
  
Van came to a stop as he came to a small opening. It led into the plaza of the town. A lone figure stood in the center of it all. A few bodies were scattered around, but Van was glad to see that they were all either moving or at least breathing. 'This has to be a good sign, or else she would have killed all of them,' thought Van with a slight grimace at the thought.  
  
Fiona stood there with her back facing Van. She had yet to realize that he was there until she heard light footsteps walking up to one of the bodies that were behind her. "Why do you continue to hold this strange belief that I am someone that I am not," she asked when she was positive that it was Van.  
  
"You are her and I know it," said Van as he kneeled down to inspect one of the bodies. The man was shaking in fear as he held a broken arm. "You didn't kill any of these people so that has to mean that a part of you won't give into what you have become," said Van in a serious tone.  
  
"I didn't kill them because I was told not to. You are very pathetic to think that that was my reason for not killing these people. You live in the past. You lose your fiancée and you have to blame it on someone like Zack. That is what makes you very pathetic. You need to wake up from your little dream world," snarled Fiona as she turned to face Van.  
  
"Zack was the one that killed her, and then he turned her into the cold hearted person that is standing before me right now. You are the one that needs to wake up. You need to wake up to his lies and deception. He is only using you to get to me," said Van as he tried any way to bring out the old Fiona.  
  
"You are a horrible liar. Zack loves me. He even told me that. That is really all I need," said Fiona with a small smile playing across her lips. "No matter how much you want to believe that I am your old love, it is impossible to bring the dead back to life," she said in a rather calm voice.  
  
"He is using you! Get that through your head. He thinks that by doing this that he can affect me in a way that it would make me weaker. He thinks that I won't hurt you. He is wrong on both accounts. I am only becoming stronger and if it means that I can get the actual you back, then I might have to hurt you," said Van as he took a step towards Fiona. "It doesn't have to come to that though. You can be yourself again. You can then be with me and our daughter and live happily like you always wanted to," said Van holding onto the little hope that he had left. It was all that he really needed though.  
  
She seemed to stiffen at the moment he said this. She didn't know why those words seemed to have such an impact on her. It had nothing to do with her because it was a wish of his dead girlfriend, yet it seemed to dig deep into her. She just threw aside all those thoughts in a second though. "Those are only the wishes of your dead girlfriend, not me," said Fiona as she turned her back towards Van.  
  
Van knew that he might have to use force soon. He didn't want to out of fear of hurting Fiona but he knew that it was definitely a possibility that he would have to take. He decided though that he wanted to end this as fast as possible. Using his quick speed her ran up behind Fiona and before she could react, he hit her just hard enough on her neck to knock her out but not cause any serious injury. She would have a neck ache in the morning but Van knew that he had to do this.  
  
Fiona consciousness slipped when she felt a pressure hit her hard on the back of the neck. She started to collapse to the floor but Van caught her easily. Just before she passed out she managed to hear something that he said, "I am sorry it had to come to this Fiona, but you really left me with no choice," said Van in a quiet tone as she fell unconscious. 


	8. pain of the heart

"Damn it what is taking that woman so long to get back. As long as I have control over her, she should follow everything I say but this was supposed to be a quick mission. Something had to have happened to her," growled out Zack as he paced the floor. A loud and obnoxious laugh echoed through the air, which only added to heighten his annoyance.  
  
"You really are a fool to believe that this plan will actually work," came a high-pitched voice of a woman that sent shivers down his spine. It wasn't out of fear but of annoyance at the presence of the woman.  
  
"What the hell do you want? I don't seem to remember ever asking for your opinion on the matter of what I do to achieve my goals," growled Zack as he stopped his pacing to look into the corner in which he knew that the unknown intruder was currently watching him from.  
  
"No need to get so nasty about all of this?" asked a woman as she stepped out from the shadows. She had long purple hair that fell loosely down her back to her waist where it was then tied together. Her eyes were a deep violet that gave a feeling like she could see everything around her. She looked Zack over and smirked. "You seem awfully nervous, you wouldn't happen to actually be falling for your mission are you?" asked the woman with a smirk still present.  
  
"Why the hell would I want something that a human has already had? Fiona was a disgrace to us zoidians the way that she was and especially an even bigger disgrace for falling in love with our mortal enemy," growled out Zack as he slammed his fist down on a table.  
  
"Oh, I get it, you are jealous of Van Flyheight, isn't that right? You are jealous that the girl loved him when you have lusted after her for many years. You only used the excuse of taking the mission that would most likely have killed her just to try and get close to her," said the woman as her smirk just grew in length.  
  
"Rachael, I do my job and nothing else. I am just using her to get to Van Flyheight. She is his weakness so if I was to use that knowledge to my advantage than I might be able to get at him a lot harder than before," said Zack as he straightened up.  
  
"You can lie as much as you want but I have known you my whole life so I know if you are lying or not," said Rachael trying her best to get on his nerves and it worked as he took a quick swing at her. "What a way to treat a lady," she said with a fake pout but it was soon replaced by a smirk.  
  
"Just leave me alone because I really don't feel like dealing with you at this moment," growled Zack as he turned away from Rachael. The woman was positively the most annoying woman that he had ever seen.  
  
"Fine, whatever," said the woman as she backed into the shadows and disappeared without even leaving a trace of her presence behind her, this left Zack all alone once again.  
  
*****  
  
"Hey Moonbay, do you see that?" asked Irvine looking up from the repairs he was doing on the lightning saix with Moonbay. He saw a blur of blue rushing back towards the base at top speed. Irvine only knew of one blue zoid that had that type of speed. 'Didn't he say that he wouldn't come back unless he had Fiona? Maybe he does have her but it seems way to fast for him to have found her,' thought Irvine in confusion.  
  
"Yeah, it looks like the blade liger," said Moonbay after taking a second to think about it. "Does that mean that he has her back?" asked Moonbay getting very excited at the mere thought of it.  
  
"That is always a possibility but it seems strange that if he was able to do it that it was way too quick, or maybe I am just being a bit paranoid," said Irvine as the two ran up to meet Van as the blade liger pulled into the hanger bay and came to a stop.  
  
The canopy of the blade liger and Van jumped out very quickly and walked up to the two of them. "Moonbay, go find Kristi and keep her as far away from here as you can," said Van knowing that she knew what he was talking about. "Irvine, I can use a hand. I managed to get her and I was lucky to get back this time with her because I took a quick route and went as fats as I can plus I don't think he realized what had happened until it was too late to stop me," Van said with a sigh of relief. He looked at the two and saw Moonbay and Irvine both nod.  
  
Moonbay walked off and Irvine walked up to Van. "How is it that you found her so fast? I thought it would have taken much longer than a mere two weeks for you to find her when Zack has control of her," said Irvine trying to relieve his curiosity of the questions that were forming.  
  
"Rumors," was all that Van said because he felt that Irvine wouldn't believe him if he told him that Fiona spoke to him in his dreams telling him where to go. He didn't really believe it himself until he found her there just as the dream had told him. "I need your help because since she woke up she has not stopped thrashing around. If I didn't have her tied up then I most like wouldn't be standing at the moment and would have been like last time," said Van with a gulp at the thought of it.  
  
"I understand why you need the help. I also understand why you don't want your daughter to see this. She is taking losing her mother hard enough but to learn that she is alive and doesn't want anything to do with us then it would just break the poor girls heart," said Irvine once the two walked up to the blade liger to see a very annoyed looking Fiona. Her hands were bound behind her back and her body was tied to the chair so she could run off.  
  
"Oh look, you have a friend now," said Fiona with grim expression on her face. "I am telling you that you won't get away with this because I am sure that Zack will come and rescue me," she growled out as she struggled with them because they both took her by the side under the arm to get her out of the blade liger.  
  
'Van wasn't kidding when he said that she had a new attitude. This is not the Fiona that any of us remember. She may look different but I am sure that this is her though,' thought Irvine trying his best to keep Fiona steady so she can't use any opportunity to escape from them.  
  
The two walked as quickly as they could down a number of hallways until they came upon a solid metal door. They opened it up to reveal a rather nice looking room but it had no way to get out except for the front door but it was only able to be locked and opened from the outside, or on the inside if you have a special type of key, and it was far too difficult to pick.  
  
"I will just leave the two of you alone to talk," said Irvine once they managed to get Fiona into the room after a great struggle had ensued where she refused to enter it. Irvine walked to the door and after taking a look at the former lovers he walked out hoping that Van could do something during this time to help Fiona regain her true memories and not the ones that Zack had implanted into her head.  
  
The door shut tightly leaving Van and a still tied up Fiona in the room. Fiona was sitting on the bed and watching Van as he paced back and forth never allowing his eyes to stray away from her. "What do you actually think you are accomplishing by kidnapping me? I am not this Fiona girl that you used to love," growled out Fiona as she gave death glares to Van.  
  
"You are right," said Van startling Fiona because she thought he was actually admitting that she wasn't the person that he actually wanted. "You aren't her anymore. All you are is a shell of her former self. A subject of Zack's tested ambitions. He took you away from us, erased your memories, and then turned you against us for his own amusement. He is not what he made himself out to be," said Van as he stopped his pacing and took a seat in a chair that was facing Fiona.  
  
"You are lying! He did not do that. You are just trying to turn me against him," yelled Fiona wishing desperately that she could cover her ears but with her arms still tied up she was unable to eve move them.  
  
"That is just what he wants you to think. You have to remember who you actually are. Tell me something. How far back exactly do you remember besides all the things that Zack has told you from his own mouth?" asked Van trying to think of more things that could prove his point. She just turned away from him so he asked it again. "How far back to you remember exactly?" he repeated.  
  
She was kind of shocked that he knew of something like that but she was never one to really lie to a person. "Only about a month. Why should you even care?" she asked with a scowl crossing her face.  
  
"It was a little over a month ago that Zack shot and killed my fiancée Fiona, or that was what we all thought until I saw you. You even have the same wound that he gave her. Everything that he has told you is a lie to separate you from your friends," said Van as he stepped forward and took a hold of Fiona by her cheek. He wasn't really surprised when she moved away from it.  
  
Fiona then spit at him, which hit him right in the side of the face. "How dare you speak that way about him. He loves me, and that is all that matters. You are man living in the past that. About the wound, Zack told me it was you that gave it to me to try and kidnap me. He saved me from you and then helped me," she yelled into his face. What happened next surprised her the most. Van merely smiled at her despite all of the insults and accusations that she had sent at him.  
  
"I might as well have been the one to have done it. I wasn't able to do anything but watch as he raised his gun and shot you. Even with the injuries that he gave me, a gunshot in each leg; I should have made a better attempt to save you. All I did was watch and I have suffered for that ever since that day," said Van with a smile but there was sadness within his eyes that didn't make sense when placed with the smile. "If there is even the slightest chance for me to try and get your memories back, then I am going to take it," Van said in a soft voice as he stared at Fiona with eyes of love that made her feel a little uncomfortable. "Maybe this will also tell you why I think that you are her," said Van as he picked up a picture that was placed off to the side. He told Moonbay in the letter to get all the things in the room ready in case that he brought her back without any change in her new personality.  
  
Fiona stared at the picture, which held a picture of Van and another girl that looked exactly like her except for a different hair color. She would have mistaken it for herself if she didn't know better. She quickly shook it off and turned her head away so that she didn't have to look at Van or the picture.  
  
Van just sighed since he had expected this. He placed the picture on the table before he turned and started to walk towards the door but he stopped and turned around to look at Fiona before he walked out of the door while closing and locking it behind him.  
  
Once she was sure that Van was gone she turned her head to once again look around the room. Her cold eyes fell back to the picture that was placed on the table. Without a second thought she used her legs and kicked the picture down to the floor.  
  
*****  
  
"Why don't you let me talk to her Van? Maybe she would feel a little bit more comfortable talking to another woman. Would you like for me to at least give it a try?" asked Moonbay when Van had walked out of the room and told her about what had happened inside.  
  
"Do you think that it would actually work? I mean she doesn't trust any of us. Zack did a good job at erasing and blocking off her memories that she now hates us," said Van too depressed at his failure to get their Fiona back. "If you want you can try. I am willing to try anything," said Van as he sat with his face in his hands.  
  
"I'll do what I can, but while I do that you should go and get some rest. You look absolutely horrible. It looks like you hadn't really gotten much sleep these past few days," said Moonbay noting Van's tired disposition. His eyes were dark and heavy with sleep, the bag under his eyes were large and he looked like he was barely awake.  
  
"I haven't been sleeping because it took about three days to get here from where I caught her. I didn't want to stop out of fear that Zack would show up and take her away again," said Van letting out a loud yawn as he stood up and started to walk away.  
  
'I promise that I will do whatever I can,' thought Moonbay turning around and walking down the halls towards the room where Fiona was being held. She turned and stared at it and then opened it up and walked into it. She was taken by surprise and almost didn't know what hit her when a hard force hit her in the side and rammed her against the wall. She hit her head and fell into a state of unconsciousness.  
  
*****  
  
Van was definitely starting to feel the weight of his sleepless night now that he really thought about it. All those previous night he was more determined to get back before Zack caught him. Now that he didn't have to worry about getting her here anymore he could get a little more sleep.  
  
Van was about to lay down when a hard rapping came upon his door. Van opened it up to see Irvine's voice. "We have a problem," said Irvine but Van didn't need to know the rest to know that Fiona had somehow escaped. 'Damnit, and just when I got her back,' Van cursed to himself mentally.  
  
*****  
  
Fiona ran down the halls as fats as she could but it was hard for her to keep her balance when her hands were tied behind her back. She felt that it would be easy for her to get away if she could move quickly and get to a zoid but she didn't know how she was even going to be able to pilot it.  
  
She came hard around a corner and ended up crashing into a small child who was coming that way at that very moment. 'Damnit. Why is a kid in a military base like this,' she growled trying to get up using the wall to brace herself. She looked down at the kid to see that she looked just like the woman in the picture that she had seen.  
  
"Ouch," cried Kristi as she fought back the tears that threatened to fall. She would have if she hadn't looked up to see who she had run into. Her bottom lip quivered as stared at the face of her mother. Fiona may have looked different but Kristi had a strange sense in telling that this was her mother. "Mommy," she said as she stood up and took a few steps towards Fiona.  
  
'Great another person who thinks that I am something that I am not. Then again I might be able to use what she said to get out of these ropes,' thought Fiona with a malicious grin. "Hey there, do you possibly think that you can help me get out of these sweetie. You probably won't be able to get it out but if you can at least loosen it slightly then I might be able to get them off," said Fiona in a tone that she didn't know she was capable of using.  
  
Kristi nodded happily since she was glad to see her mother again after so long. She ran over and to the knot in the ropes. She may have not of been the strongest of people because of her age but she was able to get the knot loosened very slightly so that Fiona could be able to take them off.  
  
Fiona smirked when her arms got free. She stood up and prepared to walk away but Kristi had grabbed her hand. "Where are you going mommy?" asked Kristi not wanting her mother to leave again.  
  
Fiona got a little annoyed and swung her arm back a little throwing the girl off while also giving a very light slap to the little girls face. "You foolish little girl. I don't know why you think that I am your mother but I am not," said Fiona with a smirk crossing her face. She looked at the little girl who had tears coming down her face as she covered her slightly red cheek. It sent a pain into Fiona heart that she couldn't quite figure out. It made her feel horrible for doing what she had done but she just shrugged it off and then just ran off.  
  
Van and Irvine turned the corner just in time to see Fiona round another corner. They were about to run after her when they saw the teary eyed Kristi. Van had dread flowing through him as he saw her red cheek behind her small hands. 'Oh no,' thought van as he rushed to her sides. Upon seeing him, Kristi jumped straight into his arms and cried into his shirt. "Shhh, it will be ok," Van said to try and sooth her a little bit. "Irvine. Look after Kristi. I will chase after Fiona. Hopefully she hasn't gotten too far away," said Van as he handed Kristi to Irvine. Kristi kept a hold onto Van's hand. "It will be ok. I will be back as soon as I can," said Van, which seemed to be enough for her because she let go.  
  
Van took off running in the direction of the hanger because he knew that would be the direction that Fiona was heading in at that moment. He ran into the hanger as a command wolf took off out of the hanger bay doors. Van quickly hopped into his blade liger and took off after it. He knew that he would be able to since the blade liger was much faster than the command wolf.  
  
Van followed closely for a few hours hoping to find out where she was going but she kept changing directions, which meant that she was onto him. They were now a really good distance from the base. Then the command wolf ran into a very narrow canyon.  
  
Van ran along the top and pulled ahead a decent distance before he jumped into the canyon landing right in front of the command wolf. "You just don't know when to give up do you?" came Fiona's voice through a communication.  
  
"I am not going to let you get away from me again to go back to the bastard that took you away from me originally," growled van as he slammed his hand upon the controls in frustration.  
  
"Shut up about him! You don't know anything about him," yelled Fiona as she fired a number of bullets at Van but his shield went up stopping many of the bullets in the tracks. Unfortunately a few of the bullet ricocheted off the shield and ran into the narrow canyon walls. A low rumbling sound echoed through the canyon and the two looked up just in time to see a rockslide coming right at them. 


	9. confusion

Time seemed to slow down as the boulders came down in the dozens right above the two of them. Both seemed to be slightly paralyzed with fear. Just as they were about to fall on top of him, Van snapped back to his senses and jumped out of the way. However, Fiona wasn't so lucky as the boulders collapsed on the command wolf burying it.  
  
Van was stunned when he saw this happened and immediately jumped out of the blade liger and ran to the pile of rocks when they stopped falling. "No, no, no. I am not going to lose her when I finally found her again. I will not let her die because of this," said Van as he got as many of the smaller rocks as he could out of the way which sometimes caused some of the larger rocks to fall because of lack of support. "Please hang on Fiona," begged Van.  
  
*****  
  
It was dark out except for the light glow from the fire in a small camp. She hadn't opened her eyes yet but she could feel the warmth of it on her skin and also the sound of a small stream close by. 'What happened? Wasn't I about to be crushed?' Fiona asked herself as she slowly opened her eyes. She saw herself in a small cave but off to the side there was a small stream just like she had heard. There was something familiar about this scene that she couldn't quite understand.  
  
"I see that you finally woke up," came Van's voice. Fiona turned around quickly and look at him in the eye. There was a scowl on her face at the mere sight of him because he was the reason that she caused the rockslide. She noticed a cup in his hand as well as a pot over the fire. He was drinking some coffee while waiting for her it say something to him. all that she could think of were some very colorful words to say.  
  
She tried to stand up only to fall down very fast because of a problem with her foot. Looking at it, she saw her swollen leg with some bandages wrapped around them. She also noticed her upper arm in close to the same condition.  
  
"You shouldn't move. You sprained you leg inside of the command wolf when all of the rocks fell on top of it. It is the same with you arm. Please just stay still so you won't make it any worse," said van with an expression of worry adorning his face.  
  
"You! This is all your fault that I am like this," yelled Fiona as she once again tried to stand up only to once again fall right back down clutching her ankle in pain. "Why did you even bother to help me?" asked Fiona as she at least sat up.  
  
"I don't care whether you believe it or not but you are Fiona. I saw it in you, Irvine and Moonbay saw it within you, even our daughter saw it inside of you," said Van down casting his eyes and looking deep into the heart of the fire that was roaring lively before his eyes.  
  
"Daughter? Oh, that little girl that helped me out. What would she even know at her age? Not much if she couldn't see that I was deceiving her," said Fiona but when she remembered the look of hurt upon the young girls face it brought back that pain within her heart once again. 'Damnit, why exactly am I even feeling like this,' Fiona asked herself.  
  
"She knows much more than you can even know of. You were all that she had in the first few years of her life. She loved you so greatly since you were all that she had. It built a very strong bond between the two of you that basically let her know that you are her mother," said Van as he looked up at Fiona and smiled.  
  
"You are nothing but a fool since you continue to believe that I am her. Get over it. She is dead and you need to learn to accept that. I am not her and I never will be," said Fiona getting very tired of the conversation. She didn't want to be around Van so she stood up despite the pain that surged through her ankle and started to walk towards the exit of the cave.  
  
Van was quick to react and he stood up and ran over to Fiona before she got outside. He grabbed her wrist when she tried to walk by him. Her free hand came back at Van but he also caught that one with minimal effort. He moved her quickly so that her back was against the wall of the cave.  
  
When Fiona looked into Van's eyes at that moment she saw a passion within them that looked like they could start a fire. It made her seemed to melt within his grasp but she put up a strong front. That front collapsed when Van did the unexpected to her and kissed her with such passion that she was almost unable to resist him. She snapped back to her senses and pulled away and slapped him hard across the face. "How dare you!" Yelled Fiona but it didn't have much effect since a moment later she found her lips once again crashed against his but this time it was different. This time it was her that had kissed him for reason that she didn't know of. It was like another mind had completely taken over her body.  
  
Through his halfway open eyes, Van could see deep into Fiona stunned and open eyes. They had changed; unlike that cold blue that Zack had turned them into they were once again their original crimson color.  
  
A thought then struck Van hard as he remembered something that the dream Fiona had said, 'It can be overwhelmed at times to such an extent that even if it is for a short time I could return to my normal self,' He finally understood how it was to overwhelm the her dormant emotions that made him capable of bringing her back.  
  
She didn't fight; she couldn't fight. Something was holding her back from struggling against this unwanted contact. 'Is it unwanted?' she asked herself. There was something boiling deep within her that was telling her that this was right. A strange force seemed to push the two to the ground sending Fiona right on top of Van. Now was her chance, she might have been able to get away if she didn't have this strange urge to stay there. She then did the unthinkable for her and once again leaned down and captured Van's lips in a kiss.  
  
*****  
  
"So what exactly are you telling us is going on?" asked Irvine a bit annoyed at having been woken up early in the morning by Crougar. He let off a loud yawn as he waited for a response from the old man.  
  
"We have lost track of both the blade liger and command wolf. We went to the last known position to look for them but there had been a rockslide recently in the area. We found the remains of the command wolf covered under multiple rocks but there was no one inside and the blade liger wasn't around either. We were hoping that one of you might have known what exactly happened to Van since we haven't been receiving and signals from the blade liger," said Crougar looking between Irvine, Moonbay, and Thomas.  
  
"Well I haven't heard from him since he left but I think that he is with Fiona right now. Without the zoid she wouldn't be able to get away so he is trying to get her to remember what was going on without anyone around. About the blade liger, I think Van turned off its signal to make sure you can't find him until he wants to be found and not until then," said Moonbay figuring that that was probably the most explainable explanation.  
  
"That is definitely a chance. It does sound like something that Van would try to do if he wanted to accomplish a task on his own," said Crougar with a hand under his chin with a look of hard thought upon his face. "Alright, you are all dismissed. We just wanted a little help on trying to find Van," said Crougar earning a groan from the other three occupants in the room because of how early in the morning he had woken them up for this short meeting.  
  
*****  
  
Van let off a groan as his eyes opened to meet the darkness of the cave that he had chosen. He felt the cold air rush against his body reminding him of what had happened. 'Could I have finally have gotten her back?' Van asked himself. He planned to ask Fiona but when he looked around he saw no one around the place. One thought came to him, "Not again."  
  
Van got up and quickly got dressed hoping that he would be able to find Fiona before she got too far away but he didn't know how long he had been sleeping or even when she had left. He felt that he had to try at least.  
  
He left the cave very quickly and headed in the direction that he had hid the blade liger just in case she had managed to get away so that she wouldn't use it as her escape route. Sure enough, it was still there and he quickly hoped into it and took off at full speed.  
  
He had to have looked for hours but he had not found a single clue as to where her current whereabouts were. 'Where could she be? She couldn't have gone too far by foot because of her sprained ankle, so I should have been able to find her by now. Maybe I should head to the closest town. Maybe someone there would have seen her around here," thought Van before turning the blade liger in the opposite direction and dashing off at full speed.  
  
*****  
  
Anyone that would have seen her would have thought that she was a zombie with how she was walking around. Her face held a clueless look to them. The strange thing was that even after what had just happened she couldn't find it in herself to be mad, yet at the same time she wasn't happy either. She was too confused at to what had happened actually. Ever since she could remember she had hated Van Flyheight and then she went and did it with him. It was like something had possessed her and she became incapable of controlling her own actions.  
  
She had left as soon as was possible for her. She had been lucky to catch a ride from a local traveler so that she could get away from the place as fast as she possibly could. Now she was back in the place that had been her home for a short amount of time but she didn't want to see any of its occupants, especially Zack at that moment.  
  
Questions clouded her mind. What exactly had happened to her in that cave, and why it was that everyone kept thinking that she was Fiona? She intended to do a little research in order to figure those questions out. She was mostly sure that she wasn't her but she no longer knew what to think.  
  
She turned and walked into a door that led to a room with a lot of computers. With all that had been said she was very curious as to who this Fiona was. Maybe she could prove that she wasn't her by looking at the info that she would be able to get her hands on.  
  
She sat down in front of a computer and immediately started to type up anything that she could think of but all she was seeing was the exact same thing every time. Stuff like how she was engaged to Van Flyheight, and the mother of his child based on some of the military reports that she managed to sneak into. It was nothing that she was looking for.  
  
A voice seemed to pop up in her head telling her something that she was slightly confused about. Check the medical files for about two month ago until now,' said the voice before it disappeared.  
  
Fiona was slightly confused but did as she was told by the strange voice. As typed as quickly as she could and soon a file popped up upon the computer containing exactly what she was looking for. She looked it over and gasped out loud at what she had read.  
  
'Following the capture and escape of the criminal Zack, no last name known, Van Flyheight and Fiona Alisi Lynette had an encounter with the man that has left bad results. Van Flyheight has been seriously injuries, physically and emotionally, and will more than likely be out for many weeks. Among his injuries there was two bullet wounds to his legs and a wound opened up also given to him by Zack's right hand man. Fiona Alisi Lynette had far worse result that has left her dead. There was a hit in the back of her head and also a bullet wound within her chest.'  
  
This scared Fiona greatly and her hands came up and clutched the area where her bullet wound had been. Along with the report were also pictures of the two at that time. All the wounds over Fiona's body were on her as well. 'No, it has to be wrong. Zack would never do that to me,' Fiona told herself but in the far reaches of her mind there was something telling her that she was wrong and she was also beginning to believe it.  
  
Fiona stood up quickly throwing her chair back in the process and ran as fast as she could out of the room. Her recently healed wound on her chest felt like it was burning like a fresh wound as she clutched it. She remembered back to the first true memory that she had.  
  
***Flashback***  
  
Her eyes opened as she looked up at a perfectly white ceiling. In her current state it gave her a headache while she was trying to adjust to the light that was shining directly down onto her eyes.  
  
"Oh I am sorry," said a voice as the bright light was turned to keep it out of her eyes. She looked up and saw Zack standing there with a smile on his face. "How are you feeling Megan? You have been out of it for a while but I see that you finally got up," he said as he stepped back from Fiona as she slowly sat up in the bed.  
  
"Megan? Is that... my name?" asked Fiona in a confused voice because she had no idea at what was going on or who she was and where she was at. 'Maybe this man can help me,' she thought to herself.  
  
So you don't remember what happened. It isn't very surprising considering what Van Flyheight had done to you. Your name is Megan and you are my Fiancée," said Zack as he showed her the ring that Van had actually given her. "Van Flyheight doesn't like me very much, so he tried to take you. He ended up shooting you and then he hit you hard in the back of the head. If I hadn't stopped him in time then he might have tried to take you from me," said Zack as he smiled once again. "I can help you though. Just trust in me and I will help you get your revenge on him," said Zack as he held out his hand and she took it after staring at it for a few moments.  
  
***End Flashback***  
  
'It's wrong, it has to be,' she told herself as she ran without seeing where she was going. She then remembered the ring that he had handed to her when she had woken up. It was definitely an engagement ring. She then remembered seeing that exact same ring on the hand of Fiona in both the picture at Van Flyheight's base as well as the picture that was placed on the report. She was so lost in thought that she ended up running into Zack.  
  
"It is good to see that you are finally back from your mission. I must say that it took you much longer than I thought it would take you with your skills, said Zack with a placid look on his face that made reading any of his emotions very hard but she could tell that he was glad to see her.  
  
"I... uh, just had a little trouble with Van Flyheight. He still has this strange notion that I am the Fiona person that he used to love," said Fiona finding it hard to look into his eyes.  
  
"He just tends to live in the past. You have nothing to worry about because you are not Fiona. I hope that you aren't getting any ideas into you head though," said Zack in a joking matter.  
  
"O-of course not," said Fiona laughing a bit nervously but it went by completely unnoticed by Zack. "What exactly is it that happened to this Fiona?" asked Fiona as she walked after him because he was signaling for her to follow him.  
  
"She was shot by an enemy of his according to reports but I personally think he shot her himself out of madness. If you could remember then you would know that he is kind of crazy," said Zack making Van sound like the bad guy. He was still completely unaware that Fiona actually knew the truth.  
  
Zack stopped and turned towards his room. He opened the door and Fiona followed him into it. "Listen there is something I would like for you to do for me," said Zack and upon seeing Fiona give a slight nod he grabbed her by her wrists and threw her onto his bed. Fiona struggled a little but soon she couldn't move. "I want you to create me an heir. One of pure zoidian blood," Zack whispered into her ear.  
  
Fiona was in a panic. She was completely unsure of what was going on at that moment. She no longer knew who she was or who to trust. It all became too much for her and the last thing that she saw was his smirking face as he took off his shirt. 


	10. return

Van walked into a town quietly. It was the early afternoon and Van had been searching for her all this time but he had not seen any sign of her. He was tired, he was hungry, and he was very annoyed that these type of things wouldn't stop happening to him. Fiona kept disappearing when they get together and Zack wouldn't stop tormenting Van for reason that he was unsure of but he was sure that it wasn't from the deathstinger and deathsaurer incident. It was obvious that Zack had no intention from the beginning to bring just wide spread destruction. All of his focus was mainly on Van and Fiona and what he had been doing was merely a side mission. Van had never met the man before and he was really pissed off at Van for something.  
  
Van walked into a small dinner to get something to eat and hope that someone might have seen her in there. He planned to stay the rest of the day to check but if he didn't find her then he would head back to the base in the morning.  
  
Van sat down behind a counter and ordered his meal. As he waited for it to be served to him he couldn't help but listen to all of the conversations that were going on around him. He heard all sorts of things but he didn't hear of the one person that he wanted to hear of. His food came shortly afterwards and he ate it slowly while continuing to listen.  
  
By the time that Van had finished he had no new news on Fiona's location. He did learn a lot about the people of the town though, like who was cheating on who, plans that people were having; some of it almost made him laugh but he held it back as he stood up to walk out of the door.  
  
He reached the door but stopped when a group of people came into the restaurant. They all appeared to be elderly men. He was about to walk by when he heard the conversation the eldest looking man was talking about.  
  
'When I was out in the desert today, I met this very strange but very beautiful woman. She looked very confused because of something that she wouldn't talk about. I gave her a ride to where she needed to go because I didn't want to see such a beautiful young woman die out in the desert. What was even stranger though was that she wanted me to drop her off in the middle of nowhere. I wanted to take her to some civilization but she completely refused and got out before I could stop her. Unfortunately she wouldn't come back so I had to leave her," said the eldest man sadly to two younger looking men that looked only about half of his age.  
  
Van mind immediately registered the woman as Fiona since without a zoid she would definitely be in the desert and it would also explain how she could have gotten away from him so fast. "Excuse me," Van called out to the man making him stop and turn to look at Van.  
  
"Yes, what is it you want young man?" asked the man as he walked over to Van. He was tall, tall enough to be able to tower over Van by about a foot. Despite his gray hair he looked very strong. At the same time he still gave an appearance of someone kind with his smile.  
  
"The young woman that you were talking about a few moments ago, did she have black hair with blue eyes?" asked Van trying to remember every little detail that might help him to get the information that he needed.  
  
"She looked like a blonde but I am not quite sure if it could have been black," said the man scratching his chin deep in thought. That was all that Van really needed to know in order to tell that it was Fiona. He must have definitely of gotten to her in their time to constantly make her shift back to her normal self and back into her controlled form.  
  
"How hard is it to tell if it was a blonde or a blacked haired woman father? They are two completely different colors so it should be easy to tell what her hair color was," said one of the younger men who had to be his son because he had called him father.  
  
"That was one of the very strange things that I noticed about her. I know it might be strange but it looked like her hair color kept changing from either blonde or black. About her eyes, I don't really know because I didn't pay attention to them but they did seem very confused, as if something strange had happened to her. There was very little emotion in them," said the old man still in a look of deep thought.  
  
"I am sorry but can you please tell me where it was that you took this woman. I have been looking for her for a while and you might be able to help me in finding her. Why don't we sit down and talk," said Van signaling towards an empty table. He looked up and noticed the old man nod.  
  
The two of them walked towards the table but Van couldn't help but noticed one of the two younger males giving him a strange look of suspicion. 'Where does he look so familiar?' the young male asked himself as he continue to watch as his father sat down at the table with Van.  
  
"I am sorry if this is an inconvenience you to but I really need to know where it was that you took her. It is much more important information than you realize," said Van knowing it was the truth. "If you need any help you can just point it out on a map," said Van pulling out a map from his back pocket.  
  
"It isn't any inconvenience and of course I will help you. I am worried about that you woman so it would be a good idea for someone else to try and get her to go somewhere else," said the man while he looked over the map. It was about another minute as he skimmed the map over that he found what he wants. "It was right here. I am positive of that," said the man.  
  
Van looked over the map and saw that it was just a very rocky desert. It was the perfect area for a base because it would have been hard for zoids to maneuver enough to fight. It would be easy pickings for any zoids if they were to get caught within them but then again it also put the other side at a disadvantage as well. "Thanks. I really needed this," said Van shaking the man's hand before he ran off in a big hurry to get back to Fiona.  
  
"Hey! Wait a minute!" yelled the one man finally knowing where he had seen Van's face. "Wasn't that Van Flyheight?" earning him shocked glances from ever person that was in the diner.  
  
*****  
  
Van raced as fast as he could. He felt very lucky because the place was not very far and he would be able to get there in about two to three hours if he went at full speed. It must have taken longer for the old man because he drove there in a slow gustav. It was nearly night so that proves how long it would have taken him if he had picked up Fiona in the morning.  
  
"Hang on Fiona. I am coming and I am going to make sure that I turn you back to yourself and then I am going to take you back once and for all. Just please hang on for a little longer," said Van pushing the blade liger to its limits and beyond in order to reach her much faster.  
  
*****  
  
Zack just sat there watching a monitor that displayed the still unconscious Fiona on it. He held a smug smirk on his face. He let out a low chuckle when he thought back to what had happened. Something wasn't right about Fiona though, it was something on the tip of his tongue but he couldn't quite place what it is that he felt was wrong. 'My control over her is perfect so that couldn't be the problem. So what is it that is wrong?' he asked himself.  
  
"What's the matter? Didn't have much luck with her?" came the voice of Rachael as she appeared out of the shadows startling Zack. Her zoidian powers were once that tended to cause a lot of annoyance. She could appear anywhere she felt like being as long as she had been there before, but unlike Reese she didn't have mental powers. The one problem is that she has to be welcome there which was usually a constant annoyance to her.  
  
Zack had always wondered how she could keep getting in here because he never really wanted her here. Yet she always seemed to appear at the worst times and always seemed to get there without even making a single noise to signify her presence. Sometimes he felt like strangling her for that. "Everything went just fine thank you," growled Zack not even turning around to look at the woman.  
  
"Sure you did," said Rachael with a soft chuckle. Anyone could tell that she was hiding something at that moment but no one was sure as to what it was. In this case it was that the mere thought of Zack with Fiona made her want to puck. Sure she liked to tease and torment Zack but she loved him greatly and hated that he wanted Fiona instead of her. "I am mainly just coming to see how your job is coming along," said Rachael placing a smile on her face.  
  
"It is going just fine," said Zack through clenched teeth because he didn't feel like listening to her continue talking. "The two of them will never be together ever again, I can assure you that," growled Zack hoping that it was enough for her at that moment.  
  
"If you say so, but for your sake, you had better be right," said Rachael with a smug smirk on her face. Before he could say anything in response to this, she disappeared into thin air.  
  
"Damn that woman," growled Zack clutching his fists tightly to his side. He would have stood up but the clicking of a gun caught his ears making him freeze in place. He then realized what had just happened and smiled. "It is so good to see you again Van. I was wondering when it was that you would find this place but I guess it took you much longer than I thought it would. Goes to show how determined you are to get your beloved Fiona back," smirked Zack with his back still turned to Van when he stood up.  
  
Van held his gun very still when Zack turned around to show his smiling face. Van remained silent just staring at him with emotionless unflinching eyes. He was not prepared to give up this chance to kill Zack but he was just waiting for the one sign. It never came however when his gun was blown out of his hand by an unseen force.  
  
"Now, now, now, there is no use for those. All metal objects can't work in this room because of the powerful magnets that I placed all around it, but there is no need for such hostilities at this moment. There is no way for you to actually succeed Van. I kept her alive, I erased her memories, she only feels loyalty to me at this moment," said Zack taking a few steps towards Van.  
  
"What makes you even think that whatever it was that you used on Fiona can't be beaten? I am sure that there is someway that I can beat it and get Fiona back," said Van preferring not to talk about what had already managed to do. "I don't know why you did this in the first place but the real Fiona would never be with you if she was in her normal mind," said Van still staring with unflinching eyes.  
  
"What makes you think that she isn't in her right as it is? She seemed to be in her mind not too long ago when I took her for myself," said Zack and taking great pleasure in seeing the pain that crossed Van's face. That was the sign for his move and he swung his foot hard and nailed Van right in the stomach sending him flying hard into a wall.  
  
Van clutched his stomach and gasping for air. "Y-you bastard," growled Van only to receive another kick but this time it was too his face sending him back to the ground on his stomach. Van then heard the sound of the door opening and a very confused and a very scared looking Fiona walk into the room. "F-Fiona," gasped out Van hoping that Zack was lying. Fiona didn't look too good though. She looked disgusted, sick, and in pain at the same time. It was then that he somehow knew that Zack was telling the truth no matter how much he hated to admit it. 'No,' thought Van grimacing a little.  
  
"Fiona. Look what I have for you. Now is your time to take your revenge on him just as I had promised you when you first came back to me. Now it is time for you to do that," said Zack turning off the magnets dropping Van gun to the floor. He picked it up and walked to the shaking Fiona. "I will let you be the one to kill him," said Zack holding the gun out to Fiona not noticing how badly she was shaking.  
  
Fiona just looked from the gun to Zack. She was afraid of upsetting him and she was also unsure of who she was at that moment. He chose for her by stuffing it into her hands, and using his to support hers as he pointed the gun in her hand at Van. 'No,' her mind screamed as it tried to push the gun back down but Zack was much stronger and kept it in place. She wasn't even sure if he noticed that she was struggling against him.  
  
"Fiona, please don't do this. I know that you are much better than this. Don't let him push you around," said Van as he stood up and stared at the two of them or more precisely Fiona. He saw how badly she was shaking and he also wondered how Zack couldn't have felt it or if he did then why was he ignoring it.  
  
"Don't listen to him Megan. He is only trying to mess with your head. He is just trying to take you away like he did to cause your amnesia in the first place," Zack whispered into her ear.  
  
Fiona didn't want to do. Zack had taken care of her but she felt this strong connection with Van. Zack's grip on her hands tightened and that combined with her shaking made for a bad result when the gun fired off. Van moved at the last second thankfully but still fell hard to the floor clutching his side. Fiona saw the blood seeping through his hands while he was on his knees. He looked really hurt but not enough to kill him. Fiona dropped to her knees in shock unable to say or do anything but fight back the tears that were threatening to fall. 'Time to make a choice; either you stay like this or take you past again,' her mind told her. Fiona already knew her answer and she stood up.  
  
"Too bad. That must be very painful Van to have her do that to you," said Zack just loud enough for Van to hear as he looked at the man on the floor about three feet in front of him. Her threw the gun off to the side and walked over to a table and picked something up which turned out to be a sword. "Do you remember this Van? I am positive that you do," said Zack with a smirk as he watched Van squint in pain. "Why don't we test if it is still sharp," said Zack raising the sword above his head. He was about to bring it down when something threw itself over Van. Zack was shocked when the head turned around and the crimson eyes bore seep into him with loathing and hatred. Her hair seemed to be changing in front of his eyes to their usual blonde. He backed up out of the shock and knowledge that Fiona had somehow returned. 


	11. turn for the worst

Fiona glared at Zack with eyes full of hatred. She was never really one to hate somebody but it felt much different this time. He had used her, manipulated her, and turned her against the one person that she loved more than anything. She had a pain in her heart that seemed to consume her but she was adamant about protecting Van at that moment now that she was clear in who she was and she had her true mind back.  
  
"What are you doing Megan? Why are you protecting the one that had hurt you," said Zack hoping that his fears were not real and she just had a temporary moment of insanity. "Move away at once so I can finish him off and so he will never again stand in the way of the life we are going to make for each other," growled Zack lowering his sword slightly.  
  
"I am not Megan. I am Fiona," growled out Fiona holding onto Van tightly with her back still turned to Zack. "How dare you make me do that to Van. How dare you make me hurt him like that," said Fiona watching the sword that Zack was holding onto drop to the ground and he backed away from her a few steps out of shock and a little fear. Then without warning he rushed out of the place as fast as he could before anything could happen to him.  
  
"Is it really you Fiona? Are you really back again?" Van gasped out but despite that pain he help but let a smile. He saw her smile a little and he smiled back while clutching his side. His wounds weren't fatal but it sure hurt like hell. He would gladly go through it again if anything like this ever happened to Fiona again. 'Oh the sacrifices I would make for love,' Van told himself with a smile and a small laugh. "Help me up Fiona. Then lets get out of here," said Van before being helped up but he noticed something wrong with Fiona at that moment. She had a look of pain in her eyes that gave Van a bad feeling.  
  
*****  
  
Zack ran as fast and as far as he could. He just couldn't believe what had just happened to him. 'My perfect plan, it all went to waste. How could she have broken free from my control? I just don't get it," said Zack collapsing onto his knees. His fist slammed hard onto the ground leaving a dent within it. "Why is it that she chose him over me. All that he is a pathetic human whose ancestors were just as annoying," growled Zack because he remembered the past well and people that were Van's ancestors. "Stupid humans. First they come in and take the land that was originally ours. First many of them act friendly with us, and then they act as if we didn't even exist anymore. That was the point of the deathsaurer. It was to give us power to take back our planet from the invaders. Unfortunately we gave it too much power and it turned on us as well," growled Zack remembering the dark day all too well.  
  
"That is not completely true but some of them did much worse things," came an elderly female voice from behind Zack making him turn around to look at the talker but his eyes widened in recognition as to who it was. "They have done far worse to my family alone, or more precisely the Flyheight family. They may have always been on good terms with almost every zoidian but they pretty much turned my own family against me. At the time the zoidians were already starting to die out. Only pureblooded zoidians deserve to live. Many believed we had to breed with humans in order to continue living. I felt that it was wrong to our heritage but they turned the rest of my family into deciding that it would be best as well. The little brat of Flyheights is a perfect example of a disgrace to zoidians as well as its mother by loving a human," said the woman letting a growl escape from her voice.  
  
"But isn't its mother..." said Zack knowing something about Fiona that he was sure that Fiona did know. He was unable to finish his sentence however before the woman cut him off.  
  
"Its mother is no longer my concern. She completely forgot her heritage," said the woman with her hands balling into fists at her side. "I know of your little obsession with her however and I hope you also performed the task that needed to be done," said the woman facing Zack with cold blue eyes.  
  
"Yes, with any luck she would be pregnant with my pureblooded child. Maybe it would redeem a bit of her zoidian status by having this done even if I know that she does seem to hate me," said a smirking Zack. There was far more too it however than even he realized.  
  
"Don't worry about that. Maybe I will talk to her. By the time that I am done she will end up going straight into your arms," said the woman turning around and watching as the sun set far in the distance. This caused her as well as Zack to smirk.  
  
*****  
  
Van sat very impatiently in a chair waiting for any news of Fiona. They had been back at the base for about a day and Van had already been fixed up. However, they insisted on taking Fiona and getting out all of the stuff that Zack placed in her to force her to do his bidding. They had been in their for hours and Van's patience was beginning to wear very thin. He had to know how Fiona was doing. Every second that he spent away from her was tearing him apart little by little. He never wanted to be separated from her again. He quickly stood up from his chair and started to pace back and forth across the room.  
  
"You really have to calm down Van. Sit down and be patient. I am sure that they will come out at any minute and tell us how Fiona is doing," said Irvine getting annoyed with Van's pacing after a while of him doing it. He watched Van stop before sitting down once again but this time he was drumming his fingers on the armrest of the chair. "Stop it!" yelled Irvine as the last of his patience wore thin.  
  
"I can't help it! What exactly would you do if the woman that you loved more than life itself were taken from you for so many that it really started to hurt you to be away from her? I have been separated from Fiona enough and I just want to get started with a new life and get over all of this," yelled Van after he stopped drumming on the chair. He however didn't know the unexpected twist that would end up occurring to him soon.  
  
Irvine was stopped from answering Van's question when a door opened and a doctor came out of the room. "How did it go? Is Fiona alright?" Van started to bombard the poor man with so many more questions after that that it made the man's head spin.  
  
"Please settle down Mr. Flyheight. Everything went just fine but there is something that I think I should talk to you about in private," said the man and when he received a nod from Van the two walked into a private room where none of the others could hear them even if they wanted to.  
  
"Is everything alright doctor?" asked Van worried that something bad might have happened to Fiona that the doctor didn't want to say in front of the rest of his friends. Many different scenarios were going through Van head and each one was worse then the previous one.  
  
"Calm down. Everything is just fine with Miss Fiona. However, we did notice something while we were doing our tests. We have confirmation of it but when we told her she became very distressed and then started to cry tears of misery but she wouldn't tell us why," said the doctor but upon looking at Van's confused face he knew that he had to just say it. "Mr. Flyheight, we have confirmed that Miss Fiona is pregnant once again. It is very faint meaning that it had to have happened within the past few days but with our science equipment we have been able to confirm it. Do you know of any reason for her reaction?" asked the doctor.  
  
Van was shocked but he knew exactly why Fiona became so distressed by this news when many would be happy with it. She was unsure whose child it was exactly. "I-I am not sure," Van lied because he did not feel like talking about such a painful thought.  
  
"If you know something Mr. Flyheight, then it is in your best interest to tell us what it is," said the doctor but gave up when Van didn't respond to him. "If you feel like talking then please come and see us. For now why don't you go and talk to her because it might cheer her up a little," said the doctor moving off to the side as Van walked towards the door with his head hung low.  
  
Van walked up to the door to Fiona's room and just stood there. He then worked up his courage and walked into the room. The first thing that he saw was Fiona laying on her bed with her back turned towards him. He saw her shake with loud sobbing coming from her. His heart crushed in his chest seeing her in that state.  
  
Upon hearing someone walk into the room. She could just tell that it was Van. She did not really want to see him of all people at that moment. "Don't come near me," said Fiona in such a low tone that it was hard for him to hear what she had said.  
  
Van just ignored her statement and took a seat next to her bed. "I heard what happened Fiona. Please know that I don't blame you for what you had done Fiona. I am sure that if you were in your right mind then you would have stopped it," said Van as he reached a hand out to touch her shoulder but she just pulled away from him and sat up looking at him.  
  
"I should have stopped him but I couldn't do anything. I just let him get away with doing that because I was too weak to stop him. Then I hurt you and I already could start to think for myself much more than before. The worst part about it was that a part of me actually wanted some of it at that time," said Fiona as she broke out in sobs yet again.  
  
"That was merely the side of you that Zack created himself to achieve his sick and twisted ambitions. You, Fiona, are not responsible for anything that Zack made you do," said Van reaching out again but Fiona once again slapped his hand away with a hard hit with hers.  
  
"I can't keep doing this to you Van! No matter what part of me it was that did this to you, it was still me that was doing it. How can you even stand to look at me after what I have done?" asked Fiona staring down at her hands. She gripped the blankets that were around her. She didn't receive a reply from Van and thought of the worst. "Maybe this was all just a mistake Van. Maybe we were never meant to be together which is why something is always coming between us. I love you with all my heart but everything that seems to happen only hurt you more and more. Maybe we should just end it right here to save us the pain that this is only causing us," suggested Fiona taking a hold of the ring that Van had given to her and pulled it off. It seemed as if her heart had left with it as well.  
  
Van didn't know what to say. 'How could Fiona say something like that? Everything that has happened to us has only increased my love for her,' thought Van heartbroken when he saw Fiona take off her engagement ring. "No Fiona. I still want you, so please don't do this. I don't want a life that doesn't have you in it," said a heartbroken Van. He wanted more than anything to just stay by Fiona's side but she appeared like she didn't want to hear about it.  
  
"I'm sorry, but this is for the best. Maybe now you can find someone else that you can actually be happy with that won't end up breaking you heart when something happens," said Fiona starting to stand up. She walked over to Van and before he could say anything she kissed him. When she pulled away she had a sad look on her face. "I'm sorry, but that is the last time that that will ever happen," said Fiona placing the ring on the table before she ran out of the room but she was stopped when she reached the door by Van.  
  
"Even if it isn't mine Fiona, I would still love it because it is yours. I don't want to lose you," said Van but Fiona pulled out of his grasp and ran down the hall with tears in her eyes. "No, wait Fiona," Van yelled after her but it was far too late. Fiona was gone from his life once again. The only thing that hurt him most was the times that Fiona pushed him away. Now he had lost her again and this time it didn't sound like she was going to take him back. 


End file.
